Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Disqualification

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 3.25 of the Autumn Statement 2023, whether he has had recent discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential impact of plans to strengthen the Universal Credit sanctions regime on the health and wellbeing of claimants.

Jo Churchill: The measures announced at Autumn Statement 2023 are designed to ensure that individuals that can work, will engage with support and opportunities available to them.Additionally, the Autumn Statement claim closure measure will not be applied where the customer receives additional amounts of Universal Credit for a disability, or where they have a new, or pre-existing vulnerability which impacts on their ability to look for, or to take up work.The conditionality and sanctions regime does not apply to those with Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity and where an individual on a work-related benefit has a health condition or a disability, work coaches have the discretion to tailor their conditionality requirements to what is reasonable and achievable – these requirements can also be lifted for a period if an individual’s ability to carry them out is disrupted due to their personal circumstances.

Low Pay

Florence Eshalomi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of workers that earn less than the Lower Earnings Limit.

Jo Churchill: The Department’s latest estimate is that in Quarter 1 of the financial year 2022/23 there were around 1.5 million employees, 5% of th, in the UK who earned below the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL). This figure does not include workers who are self-employed. This is an update to the position from the DWP’s 2019 ‘Health is Everyone’s Business’ consultation using data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). In the 2022/23 financial year, the LEL was set at £123 per week.

Universal Credit: Disqualification

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether jobcentres collect data on the (a) number, (b) age and (c) disabilities of children in households subject to Universal Credit sanctions.

Jo Churchill: The Department collects information on UC households which includes the number of children by age group and the age of the youngest child. The Department also collects data on UC households with entitlement to the Disabled Child element which is payable where a child is entitled to Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP). All this information is published as part of the quarterly Universal Credit statistics (see https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics), with further breakdowns available in the Households on Universal Credit dataset on Stat-Xplore (see https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/tableView/tableView.xhtml).

Personal Independence Payment: Gower

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in Gower constituency had personal independence payments overturned as a result of an appeal hearing in each year for which data is available.

Mims Davies: Table 1 shows the number and percentage of initial decision awards for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) that were changed after an appeal tribunal hearing, in the Gower constituency by the financial year of the initial decision.Table 1  Financial Year of Initial DecisionAppeals Overturned at Tribunal Hearing% PIP Decisions Overturned at Tribunal HearingAll Initial  Decisions2013/14.1%802014/15505%1,0802015/16606%8702016/171608%1,9202017/18405%7602018/19406%5802019/20406%7302020/21204%6102021/22304%7202022/23302%1,100  Table 2 shows the number and percentage of Award Reviews (AR) and Change of Circumstances (CoC) awards for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) that were changed after an appeal tribunal hearing, in the Gower constituency by the financial year of the AR or CoC decision. Table 2 Financial Year of AR and CoCAppeals Overturned at Tribunal Hearing% PIP Decisions Overturned at Tribunal HearingAll ARs and CoCs2016/17105%2402017/18307%3702018/19305%6002019/20102%4902020/21.1%5602021/22.1%5102022/23.1%590  Please note:Figures in Table 1 and Table 2 are rounded to the nearest 10.Percentages in Table 1 and Table 2 are calculated using unrounded figures, then rounded to the nearest percent.In Table 1, the figures for the financial year 2023/24 were excluded because their values and proportions rounded to zero.In Table 2, the figures for the financial year 2023/24 were excluded because their values and proportions rounded to zero.These figures include initial decisions (New Claims, Reconsiderations), award reviews and change of circumstances following an assessment for PIP up to 30th June 2023, the latest date for which published data is available.These figures include appeal outcomes up to 30th September 2023, the latest date for which published data is available. Note that more appeals could be made and completed after September 2023, so numbers may change as it can take some time for an appeal to be lodged and then cleared after the initial decision, award review and change of circumstances.

Employment: Mental Illness

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the ONS release Rising ill-health and economic inactivity because of long-term sickness, UK: 2019 to 2023, dated 26 July 2023, whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to encourage people with (a) depression, (b) bad nerves and (c) anxiety to self manage their conditions by engaging with work.

Mims Davies: Good work is generally good for health. The Government therefore has a wide range of initiatives to support disabled people and people with health conditions, including depression, bad nerves and anxiety, to start, stay and succeed in work. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) works in lockstep with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) through our Joint DWP and DHSC Work & Health Directorate (JWHD), which reports to both Secretaries of State. This was set up in 2015 in recognition of the significant link between work and health and to reflect the shared agenda of boosting employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions, with a focus on building the evidence base for what works for whom. Based on the evidence and delivered through the JWHD in partnership with DHSC, we provide support to individuals and employers. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. Initiatives include:Employment Advice in NHS Talking Therapies, which combines psychological treatment and employment support for people with mental health conditions;The Work and Health Programme providing tailored and personalised support for disabled people;Disability Confident encouraging employers to think differently about disability and health, and to take positive action to address the issues disabled employees face in the workplace;A digital information service for employers providing better integrated and tailored guidance on supporting health and disability in the workplace;Increasing access to occupational health, including the testing of financial incentives for small and medium-sized enterprises and the self-employed;Additional Work Coach support programme that provides disabled people and people with health conditions with increased tailored work coach support to help them move towards and into work;Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres offering advice and expertise on how to help disabled people and people with health conditions into work; andThe Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care (IPSPC) programme, a Supported Employment model (place, train and maintain) delivered in health settings, aimed at people with physical or common mental health conditions to support them to access paid jobs in the open labour market. Building on existing provision and the £2 billion investment announced at the Spring Budget, we announced a new package of support in Autumn Statement 2023. This includes:Doubling the number of places on the Universal Support employment programme, to provide support for 100,000 people per year when fully rolled out;Formally launching WorkWell, which will bring together the NHS, local authorities and other partners, in collaboration with jobcentres, to provide light touch work and health support in approximately 15 pilot areas;Building on the extension of the certification of the fit notes to a wider range of healthcare professions, exploring new ways of providing individuals receiving a fit note with timely access to work and health support; andEstablishing an expert group to support the development of the voluntary national baseline for Occupational Health provision.

Personal Independence Payment: Gower

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of constituents in Gower constituency have had their personal independence payments overturned as a result of mandatory reconsideration in each year for which data is available.

Mims Davies: Table 1 shows the number and percentage of initial decision awards for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) that were changed after a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR), in the Gower constituency by the financial year of the initial decision.Table 1  Financial Year of Initial DecisionPIP Decisions Changed after MR% PIP Decisions Changed after MRAll Initial  Decisions2013/14107%802014/15505%1,0802015/16405%8702016/171005%1,9202017/18303%7602018/19102%5802019/20507%7302020/216010%6102021/22507%7202022/23303%1,1002023/24103%230  Table 2 shows the number and percentage of Award Reviews (AR) and Change of Circumstances (CoC) awards for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) that were changed after a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR), in the Gower constituency by the financial year of the AR or CoC decision. Table 2 Financial Year of AR and CoCPIP Decisions Changed after MR% PIP Decisions Changed after MRAll ARs and CoCs2016/17105%2402017/18102%3702018/19306%6002019/20408%4902020/21406%5602021/22204%5102022/23203%5902023/24106%200  Please note:Figures in Table 1 and Table 2 are rounded to the nearest 10.Percentages in Table 1 and Table 2 are calculated using unrounded figures, then rounded to the nearest percent.These figures include initial decisions (New Claims, Reconsiderations), award reviews and change of circumstances following an assessment for PIP up to 30th June 2023, the latest date for which published data is available.These figures include mandatory reconsideration outcomes up to 30th September 2023, the latest date for which published data is available. Note that more MRs could be made and completed after September 2023, so numbers may change as it can take some time for an MR to be lodged and then cleared after the initial decision, award review and chance of circumstances.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate has been made of the average length of time between submission of a PIP mandatory reconsideration and the decision.

Mims Davies: The monthly average clearance time of a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) can be found in the latest PIP quarterly release: Personal Independence Payment statistics to October 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).In particular, the figures on MR average clearance times can be found in Table 4A in the Customer Journey Excel.

Employment and Unemployment

Jerome Mayhew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total rate of (a) employment and (b) unemployment was of people aged 16 to 64 between February and April 2010.

Jo Churchill: The ONS headline measure of the UK employment rate is for people aged 16-64.The ONS headline measure of the UK unemployment rate is for people aged 16+.The 16-64 UK employment rate was 70.2% between February and April 2010. The 16-64 UK unemployment rate between February and April 2010 was 8.1%.  Employment and unemployment data is published and available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/summaryoflabourmarketstatistics

Social Security Benefits: Prescriptions

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Autumn Statement 2023, whether he has held discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential impact of withdrawing free prescriptions from claimants subject to an open-ended sanction for over six months on their (a) health and (b) well-being.

Jo Churchill: There is no change to free prescriptions eligibility as a result of the sanctions measures announced at Autumn Statement 2023. The Autumn Statement 2023 claim closure measures will only impact customers who are entitled to the Universal Credit (UC) Standard Allowance and where they do not re-engage for a continuous period of six months or more following an open-ended sanction decision. Entitlement to free prescriptions is based on receipt of a monetary award of UC, sanctioned customers in receipt of the UC Standard Allowance only will lose their entitlement to help with health costs at the point that the sanction decision is applied. Therefore, closure of their claim after 6-months will not change this position. The Autumn Statement 2023 measure will not be applied where the customer receives additional amounts of UC for childcare, housing, or a disability, or where they have a new, or pre-existing vulnerability which impacts on their ability to look for, or to take up work.

Statutory Sick Pay

Florence Eshalomi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the number of workers that do not qualify for statutory sick pay because they earn less than the Lower Earnings Limit.

Jo Churchill: The Department’s latest estimate is that in Quarter 1 of the financial year 2022/23 there were around 1.5 million employees in the UK who earned below the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL). This figure does not include workers who are self-employed. This is an update to the position from the DWP’s 2019 ‘Health is Everyone’s Business’ consultation using data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS).

Statutory Sick Pay: Scotland

Florence Eshalomi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many workers in Scotland do not qualify for statutory sick pay because they earn less than the Lower Earnings Limit.

Jo Churchill: Information on those who earn below the Lower Earnings Limit in Scotland is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Department for Education

Children in Care: Kingswood

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of looked after children raised in Kingswood constituency who are placed (a) outside and (b) twenty miles or more from the local authority area.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of care experienced sixteen and seventeen year olds who have been placed in unregistered accommodation in Kingswood constituency in the latest period for which data is available.

David Johnston: The department does not collect this data by parliamentary constituency area.The latest information on children in looked after placements, relating to the year ending 31 March 2023, was published on 16 November 2023 in the annual statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoptions’ which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.

Special Educational Needs

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure local authorities have sufficient resources to deliver specialist education services for (a) children and (b) young people with visual impairment.

David Johnston: Specialist education services and provision for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), including those with visual impairment, is funded from local authorities’ high needs budgets. High needs funding will increase to over £10.5 billion in 2024/25 which is an increase of over 60% from the 2019/20 allocations.In December 2023 the department announced local authorities’ allocations of high needs funding through their 2024/25 dedicated schools grant. Stockport Council is due to receive an allocation of over £48 million, which is a cumulative increase of 28% per head through the national funding formula over the three years from 2021/22. This funding will help with the costs of delivering specialist education services for children and young people with visual impairment.To support pupils with visual impairments in school, the department is reforming the system to support all children with SEND, which includes improved support in mainstream schools and securing the supply of specialist teachers trained in sensory impairment.

Special Educational Needs: Kingswood

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the average waiting time for an education, health and care plan in Kingswood constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of education, health and care plans are issued outside the 20 week timeframe in Kingswood constituency.

David Johnston: The department publishes annual data on the number and proportion of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans issued within 20 weeks, in each calendar year, excluding exceptions, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans.EHC plans are administered at the local authority level and therefore figures are not available for parliamentary constituencies. The department does not collect data on the average time taken.The department and NHS England will continue to work with local authorities to monitor and improve the quality, consistency and experience of completing EHC needs assessments, as well as the issuing of completed plans.

Schools: Mental Health Services

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools in Eastbourne constituency have applied for a grant for senior mental health lead training.

David Johnston: The department began offering schools and colleges a grant to train senior mental health leads in October 2021. A list of schools and colleges receiving a senior mental health lead training grant is published and updated throughout the year. This list can be found at the following link, alongside details of other payments to institutions: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-data-on-funding-claims-by-institutions.​In the 2021/22 financial year, seven schools and colleges within the Eastbourne constituency applied for the senior mental health training grant. In the 2022/23 financial year, a further five schools and colleges applied for the grant, which totals twelve grant applications to date. In the 2023/24 financial year, there were no grant applications in this constituency for Q1 and Q2.

Absenteeism: Bournemouth

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce school absences in Bournemouth.

Damian Hinds: The government understands how important regular school attendance is for children’s education, wellbeing and life chances. The department has a national strategy for tackling absence which will impact all schools, including those in Bournemouth.At the heart of this strategy are clearer and more consistent expectations, which are set out in guidance and seek to promote both a ‘support first’ ethos and one in which attendance is everybody’s business. Through the guidance, schools are now expected to publish an attendance policy, appoint an attendance champion, and use data to identify and then support pupils at risk of becoming persistently absent. This guidance will ensure there is greater consistency for managing attendance across all schools and different local authority areas.The department has established a daily data pilot that provides near real-time attendance data to schools, trusts and local authorities to help them target their efforts most effectively. The department has employed ten expert attendance advisers who are working with every local authority in the country and several multi-academy trusts to put in place effective plans to deliver the new attendance expectations.The department has also formed an Attendance Action Alliance, comprised of national leaders from critical sectors like health, social care and policing who are taking action to promote stronger attendance through their workforces. Through this alliance, the department has launched a series of attendance hubs to enable schools with excellent attendance levels to share resources and advice with other schools in similar circumstances. These have recently expanded to 32 in number, which will support improvements across 2,000 schools who are responsible for the attendance of over 1 million pupils.Alongside this work, the department is also hoping to improve the existing evidence base on effective interventions to improve attendance. The department recently announced a plan to launch a new £15 million pilot next academic year supporting at least 10,800 pupils across ten new priority education investment areas. This programme will be evaluated and the effective practice shared with schools and local authorities.The attendance strategy is also underpinned by significant wider investment. This includes £5 billion worth of direct investment in education recovery, including £400 milion on teacher training opportunities and up to £1.5 billion on tutoring. Furthermore, the government is spending £2.9 billion annually on the pupil premium, on top of £1.3 billion on recovery premium. Schools must spend the pupil premium on evidence informed approaches, including attendance strategies and attendance. Recent analysis by the Education Endowment Foundation of school strategy statements found that 75% of schools in England identified poor attendance as a priority.The government has also invested an extra £200 million on the Supporting Families programme increasing the budget to £695 million by 2024/25, to help an additional 300,000 families facing multiple problems. Sustained good attendance is a key outcome of the programme.

Pupils: Ethnic Groups

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of state school pupils in each local authority (a) belonged to each ethnic group, (b) had English as their first language, (c) did not have English as their first language and (d) had their first language recorded as unknown in each year since 1998.

Damian Hinds: Figures for ethnicity at local authority level for the 2015/16 academic year are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/94f677ea-a7ea-4157-4649-08dc15e274f3. Figures for English as an additional language for the 2015/16 academic year are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/6ff8c047-798c-45c6-aaab-08dc15deba2a. Figures from the 2009/10 to 2014/15 academic years are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers. Archived figures for academic years before 2009/10 are available in the following published sources:2009 https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130323071655/http:/www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics/a00196015/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics. 2009: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130323071655/http:/www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics/a00196015/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics.Ethnicity tables 12a and 12bEAL tables 13a and 13b 2008: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130323071719/http:/www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics/a00195968/pupil-absence.Ethnicity not published at local authority (LA) levelEAL not published at LA level 2007: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130323071912/http:/www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics/a00195601/dcsf-schools-and-pupils-in-england-january-2007-(f.Ethnicity tables 32 and 33EAL tables 34 and 35 2006: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130323072019/http:/www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics/a00195302/schools-and-pupils-in-england-january-2006-(final).Ethnicity table 33EAL 34 2005: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130323072209/http:/www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics/a00194892/schools-and-pupils-in-england-january-2005-(final).Ethnicity table 33EAL table 34 2004: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130104091248/http:/education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics/a00194445/statistics-of-education-schools-in-england-2004-ed.Ethnicity tables 47a and 47bEAL tables 51a and 51b 2003: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130104091256/http:/education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics/a00194094/statistics-of-education-schools-in-england-2003-ed.Ethnicity tables 47a and 47bEAL tables 51 2002 https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130104091304/http:/education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics/a00193886/statistics-of-education-schools-in-england-2002-ed2002: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130104091304/http:/education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics/a00193886/statistics-of-education-schools-in-england-2002-ed.Ethnicity tables 47a and 47bEAL not published at LA level 2001: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130113104450/https:/www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics/a00193690/schools-in-england-2001.Ethnicity not published at LA levelEAL not published at LA level 2000 https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130113104731/https:/www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics/a00193434/schools-in-england-2000 2000: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130113104731/https:/www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics/a00193434/schools-in-england-2000.Ethnicity not published at LA levelEAL not published at LA level 1999 https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130103145428/http:/www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics/a00193237/schools-in-england-1999 1999: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130103145428/http:/www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics/a00193237/schools-in-england-1999.Ethnicity not published at LA levelEAL not published at LA level 1998 https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130113104903/https:/www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics/a00193283/schools-in-england-1998 1998: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130113104903/https:/www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics/a00193283/schools-in-england-1998.Ethnicity tables 49a and 49b of pdf documentEAL table 50 of pdf document

Department for Education: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many purchases with a value of less than £500 were made against her Department’s budget using a Government procurement card (a) in calendar year 2022 and (b) from 1 January to 30 September 2023; and what was the total cost of those purchases.

Damian Hinds: Procurement cards assist with the reduction in procurement bureaucracy, boost efficiency, support the government’s prompt payment initiative for small and medium businesses, and help maintain cash flow to suppliers.Procurement cards are used as defined by the departmental procurement acquisition model, agreed by procurement and finance colleagues. Controls are in place that limit purchase types and values in line with individual departmental controls.Procurement cards are held by departmental officials, not Ministers or Special Advisers.The table below lists the number of purchases and the total cost of purchases for the calendar year 2022 and from 1 January to 30 September 2023:  DfEESFALocatEDSTATRAOakTotal01/01/2022-31/12/2022   Value of purchases below £500.00£178,381.16£52,689.25£12,287.14£2,053.74£3,931.10£32,816.45£282,158.84Number of purchases below £500.0014943031561117237221801/01/2023-30/09/2023   Value of purchases below £500.00137,843.73£11,994.14£12,404.57£832.47£754.50£126,840.64£290,670.05Number of purchases below £500.001200107117569462381

King James Academy Royston: Repairs and Maintenance

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support the King James Academy in Royston following recent flooding and the loss of its roof.

Damian Hinds: The department is working with The Diamond Learning Partnership Trust, the responsible body for the school, to return pupils to face-to-face education as soon as possible. The trust is considering using alternative teaching sites and whether to install temporary facilities on the existing site. A loss adjustor from the Risk Protection Arrangement scheme is carrying out a site assessment on 12 January 2024. The department will discuss next steps with the trust once the outcomes from the site assessment have been received.

Department for Education: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many government procurement cards were held by people to make purchases against her Department’s budget as of (a) 31 December 2022, (b) 31 March 2023 and (c) 31 December 2023.

Damian Hinds: Procurement cards assist with the reduction in procurement bureaucracy, boost efficiency, support the government’s prompt payment initiative for small and medium businesses, and help maintain cash flow to suppliers.Procurement cards are used as defined by the departmental procurement acquisition model, agreed by procurement and finance colleagues. Controls are in place that limit purchase types and values in line with individual departmental controls. Procurement cards are held by departmental officials, not Ministers or Special Advisers.In the interest of providing the most comprehensive response to your question, the department also administers embedded cards for four national contracts on behalf of DfE, ESFA, STA and TRA.The table below highlights the named cardholders for the department: Department for Education, Executive Agencies & Arms Length Bodies31 December 202231 March 202321 December 2023Department for Education (DfE)586684Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA)11117Standards & Testing Agency (STA)222Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA)121LocatED333Oak National Academy244Total7788101

Free School Meals: Universal Credit

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were receiving free school meals as the result of the transitional protections associated with the April 2018 introduction of an earned income threshold of £7,400 for universal credit claimants in each year from 2018 to 2023.

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of children who will receive free school meals as the result of the transitional protections associated with the April 2018 introduction of an earned income threshold of £7,400 for universal credit claimants in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025.

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the transitional protections associated with the April 2018 introduction of an earned income threshold of £7,400 for universal credit claimants, if she will make an estimate of the number of families with multiple children in which one or more child does and one or more child does not qualify for free school meals, as at 9 January 2024.

Damian Hinds: The department publishes statistics annually that detail the number of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM). The latest data show that over 2 million pupils are eligible to receive this entitlement, which is 23.8% of all pupils. This is an increase from 1.1 million eligible pupils in 2018, when extensive transitional protections were first introduced. This has ensured that children in receipt of FSM will not lose access to this entitlement, even if their household’s financial circumstances improve.In addition, this government has extended eligibility for free school meals several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century, most notably through the introduction of universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) in 2014. The result of this is that over a third of pupils in England now receive FSM, compared with just one in six in 2010.Data on the number of pupils eligible for FSM are based on information provided by schools in their census returns. This does not distinguish pupils who are only eligible as a result of protections, and no longer meet the eligibility criteria for FSM. The department monitors this information but does not have plans to make a formal estimate of the number of pupils who are eligible for FSM under transitional protections only.Further to this, the department has always been clear that a child is only eligible for FSM if their family meets the eligibility criteria at the point of applying for FSM. The result may be that in some cases for children in the same household, some may be eligible for FSM whilst others are not. The department does not plan to make an estimate of this figure.Further information is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics#dataBlock-2f5a67c4-6e66-414a-a926-f959d8b6443a-tables.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Local Government: Debt Collection

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2023 to Question 6351 on Local Government: Debt Collection, with reference to increases in the cost of living, if his Department will take steps to update the guidance entitled Council tax collection: best practice guidance for local authorities, published on 16 August 2021.

Simon Hoare: While the Department keeps the guidance on council tax collection under review, there are currently no plans to update it. The Government expects councils to be sympathetic in their approach to collecting council tax, and it is open to them to adopt alternative approaches where they consider it appropriate.

Retail Trade: Urban Areas

Dehenna Davison: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support the long-term viability of high streets.

Jacob Young: This Government is fully committed to supporting our high-street businesses and communities.Thanks to my Hon friend’s hard work, provisions in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act for High Street Rental Auctions (HSRA) give local authorities new powers to force landlords to rent out vacant units in high streets. HSRAs will be backed by £2 million funding announced as part of the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, to help communities and local businesses take control of empty properties, covering the cost of refurbishing properties, the auction process and council fees.The High Street Accelerator pilot programme will incentivise and empower local people to work together to develop ambitious plans to tackle vacancy and anti-social behaviour, and work on long-term regeneration plans to future proof their high streets.The Government’s Long-Term Plan for Towns has identified 55 towns to develop the first wave of Town Partnerships, backed by £1.1 billion overall, to drive ambitious plans to regenerate local towns across the UK over the next decade.Long-term investment also includes £2.35 billion of Town Deals and over £830 million of Future High Streets Funding across 170 high streets, town centres and local communities in England.At the last autumn statement, the Chancellor announced a business rates support package worth £4.3 billion over the next five years, freezing the small business multiplier and extending the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure scheme.I want to thank my Hon friend for her work, and I look forward to continuing to work with her on levelling up projects in Bishop Auckland and our Long-Term Plan for Towns in Spennymoor.

Private Rented Housing: Older People

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the rent review tribunals proposed in the Renters Reform Bill will use sector specific data for deciding the level of market rent for specialist housing for older people.

Jacob Young: In order to determine the market rate, the First-tier Tribunal considers a wide range of evidence, such as the price of similar properties being advertised online and evidence submitted from both parties justifying or arguing against the rent increase.

Internal Drainage Boards: Finance

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to increase funding for Internal Drainage Boards in the 2024/2025 local government finance settlement.

Simon Hoare: The provisional local government finance settlement for 2024-25 makes available over £64 billion, an increase in Core Spending Power of almost £4 billion or 6.5% in cash terms on 2023-24. This above-inflation increase demonstrates how the Government stands behind councils up and down the country.We will publish a final settlement early this year which will be subject to a debate in the House of Commons.

Council Tax: Asylum

Sir Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 8376 on Council Tax: Asylum, if he will take steps to ensure that (a) refugees and (b) asylum seekers who do not hold a Homes for Ukraine immigration permission are disregarded when determining whether a discount should be applied to the council tax for their accommodation.

Simon Hoare: The council tax disregard is one part of a bespoke package of support for those arriving on the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, and their sponsors, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Government does not plan to extend the council tax disregard to refugees or asylum seekers who do not hold a Homes for Ukraine immigration permission living in England.

Regeneration: Shrewsbury

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the Riverside town centre development on levels of economic regeneration in Shrewsbury.

Jacob Young: All of the Levelling Up Fund projects, including the Smithfield Riverside Redevelopment Programme, have undergone a robust assessment prior to award. The published Levelling Up Fund Round 2: Explanatory Note outlines the assessment and decision making process.The published Levelling Up Fund Impact Evaluation Scoping Report sets out how the impact of the Fund will be estimated at the programme and project levels and at different geographies.We continue to work with all successful applicants, including Shropshire Council, to ensure the benefits of the £4.8 billion worth of projects are delivered to communities as quickly as possible.I thank him for his work to help us level up in Shropshire.

Elections: Costs

Ashley Dalton: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make a comparative estimate of the cost to the public purse of holding a general election on (a) the same date as the local elections and (b) another date.

Simon Hoare: The cost of holding the next general election will be published in the relevant Charges Order in advance of the election to give Returning Officers certainty over the funding available to them for the conduct of the election.In the instance that a Parliamentary election is held alongside another election, the Charges Order will include schedules detailing the funding allocations for both a combined poll and a fully standalone election.

Floods: Rotherham

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what funding has been made available to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council for clean-up operations following recent flooding.

Simon Hoare: I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 9235 on 16 January 2024.

Local Plans: Green Belt

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the National Planning Policy Framework, published on 20 December 2023, what steps he is taking to help planning inspectors ensure existing green belt boundaries when considering draft local plans.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has issued guidance to planning inspectors on the applicability of Section 13 of the National Planning Policy Framework on Protecting the Green Belt if draft local plans have not made sufficient provision for new housing.

Lee Rowley: The National Planning Policy Framework now makes clear that there is no requirement to alter Green Belt boundaries to provide housing land.

Local Government Finance: Stockport

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has plans to help Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council with its budget shortfall for financial year 2024-25.

Simon Hoare: The provisional local government finance settlement for 2024-25 makes available over £300.1 million for Stockport Council, an increase in Core Spending Power of almost £17.5 million or 6.2% in cash terms on 2023-24. This above-inflation increase demonstrates how the Government stands behind councils up and down the country.Further details of funding for England, including the hon. Member’s local authority area can be found at the following link.We have launched a consultation on the proposals for 2024-25 through the provisional settlement, which closed on 15 January 2024. After the consultation responses are considered and any alterations are made, we will publish a final settlement early this year which will be subject to a debate in the House of Commons.

Planning Permission

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the impact that the new National Planning Policy Framework will have on decisions on planning (a) applications and (b) appeals already underway at the point when it was introduced.

Lee Rowley: Except where transitional arrangements are set out in Annex 1 of the Framework, the policies in the new National Planning Policy Framework are material considerations which should be taken into account in dealing with applications and appeals from the day of its publication on 19 December 2023, including those submitted prior to this date but still under consideration.

Antisemitism: Internet

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many anti-Semitic online hate crimes were reported on the True Vision website between (a) 7 October 2022 and 6 January 2023 and (b) 7 October 2023 and 6 January 2024.

Lee Rowley: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 5938 on 14 December 2023.

Air Pollution

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the interventions listed in section 6.2 of the UK Parliament POST brief entitled Indoor Air Quality, published on 26 September 2023.

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to page 40 of Ventilation: Approved Document F of the Building Regulations 2010, published in June 2022, if he will update table B1 using the World Health Organisation’s air quality guidelines published in September 2021.

Lee Rowley: The Department has a wide and reforming programme to improve the quality and liveability of the housing stock within the United Kingdom. The Government’s policies have been set out and we will bring forward any new proposals in due course.We welcome all contributions to the public debate on building quality, building use and building safety.

Cabinet Office

Baroness Stedman-Scott

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 194 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, published on 4 July 2023, for what reason the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in the Lords was awarded a severance payment on 31 December 2022 in the context of her age at the date she ceased to hold office.

Alex Burghart: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

David Evennett

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the severance payments for former ministers published on Page 132 of HM Treasury's Annual Report and Accounts for 2022/23, published on 20 July 2023, for what reason the former Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, the Rt hon. Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford, was awarded a payment on 26 October 2022, in the context of his age at the date he ceased to hold office.

Alex Burghart: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Question

Henry Smith: What steps his Department is taking to strengthen national security.

Alex Burghart: The Cabinet Office leads and coordinates the UK’s national security crisis response through the Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBR), and national security policy through the National Security Council structures. This includes the National Cyber Strategy, National Security and Investment Programme, and the Biological Security Strategy, all of which the department is taking essential steps to deliver. Key successes in 2023 included publishing the Integrated Review Refresh, passing the National Security Act, launching the Emergency Alerting scheme and delivering the Atlantic Declaration and risk elements of the AI Summit. So far in 2024, we have launched a new Strategic Dialogue on Biological Security with the US and continued to coordinate the response to the conflict in Gaza and Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Question

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of public sector procurement processes for digital goods and services.

Alex Burghart: The Government recognises how vital digital products and services are for delivering public services. The Digital, Data and Technology Playbook provides best practice guidance for the procurement of digital products and services. There are annual updates to ensure it is up to date. The most recent update was in June 2023, found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-digital-data-and-technology-playbook

Fujitsu: Contracts

Dan Carden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many of the contracts awarded to Fujitsu since 2010 were put out to tender.

Alex Burghart: This historic information is not held centrally. Details of central government contracts where the contract value is above £12,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search

Electronic Government

Peter Kyle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the GOV.UK chat experiment.

Alex Burghart: Government Digital Service (GDS) tested an early prototype of a Large Language Model (LLM) powered chatbot (GOV.UK Chat) in December 2023. Feedback, and the quality of answers provided, were analysed from 200 users.Nearly 70% of users found the prototype-generated responses to be useful and the answers were assessed to be accurate 80% of the time.Ensuring the highest level of accuracy and efficiency is a priority, which is why the next phase of development and testing will focus on how to improve accuracy of the model and explore how users could best discover and use the service.

Artificial Intelligence

Peter Kyle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to complete an algorithmic transparency report using the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard for the Artificial Intelligence Red Box ministers are piloting.

Alex Burghart: The government has made transparency around automated decision-making a priority through the publication of the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS). The ATRS was endorsed by the Data Standards Authority (DSA), and the first approved version was published in January 2023.The Red Box Copilot is currently in Alpha, being tested in a controlled, transparent manner in a small number of private offices.Any standards that have been designated by the DSA have an expectation that they will be adopted where there is a use case. As the AI Red Box is being piloted, the Government will consider the publication of an ATRS record, post evaluation.

Department of Health and Social Care

Health and Death

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of cases of (a) preventable ill health and (b) premature death (i) in Leicester East constituency and (ii) nationally.

Andrea Leadsom: Local authorities and integrated care boards are responsible for improving the health of their local population and reducing health inequalities. In 2023/24, the total Public Health Grant to local authorities was £3.530 billion. Leicester – which includes the Leicester East constituency – received £29 million of the grant in 2023/24, which is almost £80 per head of population. Additional funding has been provided to improve cardiovascular outcomes in deprived communities, prevent drug and alcohol deaths, address need, and enhance recovery, and improve mental health for people in Leicester.In January 2023 the Department announced its plan to publish the Major Conditions Strategy, focusing on six major groups of conditions (cancer, mental ill health, cardiovascular disease (including stroke and diabetes), dementia, chronic respiratory diseases, and musculoskeletal disorders) that account for approximately 60% of ill-health and premature death in England.Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death, disability and ill health, which is why Government has set out plans to introduce a Tobacco and Vapes Bill in parliament and announced new funding to support current smokers, a new incentives programme to support pregnant women to quit, deliver anti-smoking campaigns and crackdown on illicit tobacco and underage sale of tobacco and vapes.

Pharmacy

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans does her Department have to increase public awareness of the Pharmacy First scheme.

Andrea Leadsom: The launch of Pharmacy First early in 2024 will be supported by a public-facing mass media campaign to help raise awareness of Pharmacy First in England.

Transplant Surgery: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of people who have received organ transplants in Romford constituency in each year since 2020.

Andrea Leadsom: NHS Blood and Transplant is responsible for organ donation in the United Kingdom. The following tables shows the number of people who have received organ transplants in Romford constituency each year since 2020:YearOrgan Transplants2019/20122020/215 or less2021/22112022/2310Source: NHS Blood and Transplant

Pharmacy

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has carried out analysis on the long-term financial viability of community pharmacies.

Andrea Leadsom: NHS England has commissioned an economic analysis of the cost of providing pharmaceutical services. That analysis is ongoing and will inform any future decision on the funding of community pharmacies.

General Practitioners

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help patients see their preferred doctor at GP surgeries.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government recognises the importance of the relationship between patients and their general practitioners (GPs). However, in some cases patients may prefer to see another professional from the wider general practice workforce instead of a specific GP.All patients must be assigned a named GP, and practices must endeavour to comply with all reasonable requests of patients to see a particular GP or other healthcare professional for an appointment. The 2023/24 GP Contract promotes the use of the Royal College of General Practitioners’ Continuity of Care toolkit via the Quality and Outcomes Framework Quality Improvement module.We are building a diverse workforce of professionals in general practice teams who play an important role in providing and enabling continuity of care for patients.

Obesity: Health Services

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the NHS has spent on treating obesity-related diseases in each of the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom: It was estimated that in 2021 obesity related ill-health cost the National Health Service £6.5 billion annually. The NHS is committed to improving obesity care and other major causes of ill health through a preventive approach as outlined in the NHS’s Long Term Plan. It continues to offer support to the population, enabling them to take greater control of their own health and stay healthy for longer.

Food: Children

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help encourage the consumption of healthy foods by children.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce the consumption of junk food among children.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential relationship between junk food advertising and trends in the levels of junk food consumption by children.

Andrea Leadsom: Government advice on a healthy, balanced diet is encapsulated in the United Kingdom’s national food model, the Eatwell Guide. The Department promotes the Eatwell Guide principles through platforms such as the National Health Service website and social marketing campaigns including Healthier Families and Better Health. More information on the marketing campaigns is available at the following links:https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/We have taken action to empower people to make healthier food choices, which includes implementing regulations in 2022 on out of home calorie labelling for food sold in large businesses including restaurants, cafes and takeaways and restricting the placement of less healthy products in key selling locations in store and online. We are committed to bringing forward further measures by 2025, restricting adverts on television for less healthy foods and drinks before the 9pm watershed, as well as paid-for adverts online and restricting volume price promotions of less healthy foods such as buy-one-get-one-free offers.Measures to restrict advertising are underpinned by evidence which suggests that exposure to high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) advertising can affect what and when children eat, shaping children’s food preferences from a young age. Over time, excess consumption can lead to children becoming overweight or obese, all of which puts their future health at risk. This evidence is referenced in the recent consultation from December 2022, Introducing further advertising restrictions on TV and online for products high in fat, salt or sugar: consultation on secondary legislation. We will publish the response to the consultation in due course. More information on the consultation is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/introducing-further-advertising-restrictions-on-tv-and-online-for-products-high-in-fat-salt-or-sugar-secondary-legislation/introducing-further-advertising-restrictions-on-tv-and-online-for-products-high-in-fat-salt-or-sugar-consultation-on-secondary-legislationThrough our Healthy Food Schemes, the Government provides a nutritional safety net to those who need it the most. Healthy Start, Nursery Milk and the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme together help more than three million children. Over £200 million is devoted to the Healthy Food Schemes each year to reflect this commitment.The School Food Standards are set in legislation and require school caterers to serve healthy and nutritious food and drinks to ensure children get the energy and nutrition they need throughout the school day. The standards define the foods and drinks that must be provided, those which are restricted to a minimum, and those which must not be provided. HFSS foods are restricted.Education around healthy eating is also covered through several curriculum subjects including design and technology, science and health education. The relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance states that by the end of primary school, pupils should know what constitutes a healthy diet; the principles of planning and preparing a range of healthy meals; the characteristics of a poor diet; and risks associated with unhealthy eating.

General Practitioners: Feltham and Heston

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of GP provision for the size of the population in Feltham and Heston.

Andrea Leadsom: In Feltham and Heston constituency, the median general practitioner (GP)-patient ratio was 3.6 full time equivalent doctors in general practice per 10,000 registered patients in November 2023.Each GP is required to provide services to meet the reasonable needs of their patients. There is no Government recommendation for how many patients a GP should have assigned, or the ratio of GPs or other practice staff to patients. The demands each patient places on their GP are different and can be affected by many different factors, including rurality and patient demographics. It is necessary to consider the workforce for each practice as a whole; not only GPs but also including the range of health professionals available who are able to respond to the needs of their patients.

IVF

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data her Department holds on the number and proportion of integrated care boards offering three full cycles of IVF in line with NICE guidelines as of 9 January 2023.

Maria Caulfield: As part of the first-year commitments in the Women’s Health Strategy, the Government published our in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) transparency tool on GOV.UK in July 2023. This tool compiles published integrated care board (ICB) policies on their local fertility treatment offer to keep track nationally of implementation progress.From the data compiled from published ICB commissioning policy statements, currently three out of 42 ICBs provide three full IVF cycles in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence fertility guidelines.

Kidney Diseases: Medical Treatments

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people are undergoing dialysis treatment in Easington constituency.

Andrew Stephenson: Data on dialysis that takes place at home is not collected centrally. The following table shows dialysis in English National Health Service hospitals as well as English NHS-commissioned activity in the independent sector for patients resident in the Easington constituency:YearEpisodesPatients2018/19210502019/20225402020/21225452021/22140552022/2321550Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England

MMR Vaccine: Disinformation

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help tackle MMR vaccine disinformation; and what estimate she has made of the number of measles cases by (a) region, (b) local authority, (c) socioeconomic group and (d) ethnic background in the last five years.

Maria Caulfield: The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) ensures all relevant healthcare professionals have access to resources to maintain confidence in the national vaccination programmes including measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).NHS England is actively working with regional and local systems in low uptake communities, to enhance outreach activities and improve access to vaccination. UKHSA has developed an evaluation framework and resources to facilitate sharing of effective approaches. To assess the level of public confidence in the vaccination programmes, UKHSA undertakes annual surveys, to understand how knowledge, beliefs and attitudes towards vaccine safety, and disease severity influence uptake. This information is used to inform programme planning and implementation and the development of effective communication strategies. UKHSA publishes routine data on laboratory confirmed measles cases by age and region monthly, which is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/measles-guidance-data-and-analysis#epidemiology This routine report does not include a breakdown of cases by local authority due to the risk of deductive disclosure. UKHSA does not routinely capture robust data on ethnicity or socioeconomic status of cases. However, data can be enhanced retrospectively and analysed over longer periods to describe inequalities in burden of disease. Most recently this has been published in 2019, and is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/measles-and-rubella-elimination-uk-strategy

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Dame Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans her Department has to make this winter's Covid-19 vaccine available for purchase.

Maria Caulfield: There are no plans to make the COVID-19 vaccines the Government holds for National Health Service use available for purchase. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), a body of independent experts, advises the Government on who should be offered vaccination through the national programme for COVID-19. Vaccination for COVID-19 through the NHS is free for those eligible and there are no plans to introduce charges.Current COVID-19 vaccines offer good protection against serious outcomes but only short-lived protection from mild symptomatic disease. The aim therefore is to offer vaccination to those the JCVI advises are at higher risk of hospitalisation and death. This risk is strongly linked to older age and some specified clinical conditions.All vaccines that have been licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for use in the UK may be prescribed by physicians privately as well as through the NHS. Currently COVID-19 vaccines are not available privately but as is the case for many other vaccines, manufacturers and providers are able to set up a private market alongside the NHS offer when they consider this viable and appropriate. The Government is supportive of the emergence of a private market for COVID-19 vaccines. Supply of vaccines for such a market would be, as with all other vaccines, a matter for the private providers working with manufacturers to obtain through the open market.

NHS: Anniversaries

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the NHS.

Andrew Stephenson: 2023 marked the 75th anniversary of the National Health Service. To mark the occasion, over the course of June and July 2023, the Department and NHS England made several flagship announcements. These included: the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan; a new national targeted lung cancer screening programme; the Government’s Mandate to NHS England; an additional one million health checks to tackle cardiovascular disease through the new NHS Digital Health Checks; and a £21 million fund for NHS trusts to bid and procure artificial intelligence diagnostic imaging tools.

Dementia: Research

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government is on track to meet its funding targets for the dementia moonshot.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government is strongly committed to supporting research into dementia and has committed to double funding for dementia research. We will double funding for dementia research to £160 million per year by the end of 2024/25. We estimate that the Government spent over £454 million on dementia research from 2018/19 to 2022/23.On 14 August 2022, the former Prime Minister launched the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Mission, along with £95 million of funding. The Mission is part of the commitment to double dementia research funding and aims to develop innovative research tools and boost the number and speed of clinical trials in dementia and neurodegeneration. In the Autumn Statement 2023, the Government stated it is launching the first Clinical Trials Delivery Accelerator focused on dementia, with up to £20 million of funding to help innovation reach National Health Service patients even faster.

Department of Health and Social Care: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many government procurement cards were held by people to make purchases against her Department’s budget as of (a) 31 December 2022, (b) 31 March 2023 and (c) 31 December 2023.

Andrew Stephenson: The number of cardholders in the Department for the dates in question was 86 as of 31 December 2022, 89 as of 31 March 2023, and 92 as of 31 December 2023.

Physician Associates: Regulation

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to regulate the physician associate role.

Andrew Stephenson: On 13 December 2023, the Department laid draft legislation in both Houses and in the Scottish Parliament that will empower the General Medical Council (GMC) to regulate physician associates and anaesthesia associates.Subject to parliamentary scrutiny, this legislation will instruct the GMC to commence regulation. The GMC will then have to consult on their own rules, policies and guidance and begin regulating these roles in or before December 2024.

Health Services: Weather

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to (a) allocate additional funding and (b) increase staff recruitment for NHS England in winter 2023-24.

Helen Whately: There are no current plans to do so. We have invested an additional £1 billion to support capacity in urgent and emergency services this year, alongside a £250 million capital investment in hospital trusts, and £200 million for ambulances services.This funding has been used to boost capacity in the health service this winter and beyond and aims to add 5,000 more staffed beds permanent bed base this winter, as well as increase the number of deployed ambulance hours on the road.

Health Services: Veterans

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will list the 18 NHS acute trusts where Op RESTORE: The Veterans Physical Health and Wellbeing Service are located; and for what reason those trusts were selected.

Maria Caulfield: Op RESTORE provides support to veterans with service-related physical health needs using existing National Health Service clinical pathways from clinicians who understand the military context. Clinically, Op RESTORE finds the best pathway and clinician to manage the veteran’s physical health need. This may not be local to the veteran or be with a military consultant, but it will be the most appropriate clinical support.Op RESTORE has consultants in 21 NHS trusts across England and includes NHS Major Trauma Centres. Consultants supporting Op RESTORE are either serving, have served or have an understanding of the military environment, which means that Op RESTORE is able to access specialist clinical knowledge coupled with military contextual awareness to support veterans.The list of trusts with Op RESTORE consultants is below:- St Bartholomew’s Health NHS Trust;- Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;- East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust;- Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust;- Guys & St Thomas' NHS Trust;- Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust;- King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;- Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;- Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust;- Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;- North Bristol NHS Trust;- Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust;- Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;- Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;- Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust;- Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust;- South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;- Torbay & South Devon NHS Foundation Trust;- University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust;- University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust; and- Northumbria Hospitals NHS Trust.

Bipolar Disorder: Waiting Lists

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce waiting times for diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

Maria Caulfield: The NHS Long Term Plan commits to investing £2.3 billion of extra funding a year in expanding and transforming mental health services by March 2024, enabling an extra two million people, including people with bipolar disorder, to be treated by mental health services within the National Health Service.Through the NHS Long Term Plan, we are also expanding community mental health services. This includes new integrated community models for adults with severe mental illness including bipolar disorder. These new models are still in the early stages, and will take time to embed nationally, but will give at least 370,000 adults greater choice and control over their care and support them to live well in their communities by March 2024.The Department also provided an additional £500 million in 2021/22 to accelerate our expansion plans and help address waiting times for mental health services. The NHS is also working towards implementing five new waiting time standards for people requiring mental healthcare in both accident and emergency and in the community, to ensure timely access to the most appropriate, high-quality support.

Mental Health Services: Staff

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will publish the number of (a) clinical and (b) non-clinical staff employed in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services by NHS provider in each quarter between 2015 and 2023.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics for England. This data is drawn from the Electronic Staff Record, the human resources system for the National Health Service. From this data, the attached tables present the number of full time equivalent clinical and non-clinical staff who have an area of work recorded as ‘Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT)’. Data is presented for each quarter from March 2015 to September 2023 split by the body employing the staff. It is likely that some staff working on IAPT may be recorded against other areas of work, therefore these figures likely undercount the total number of staff involved. Differing recording practices may also limit how comparable figures for different trusts are.Attachment (xlsx, 33.9KB)Attachment (xlsx, 26.7KB)

NHS: Protective Clothing

Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data her Department holds on the number of individuals convicted of fraud related to contracts with her Department for the provision of personal protective equipment in the last four years.

Andrew Stephenson: To date, no individuals have been convicted of fraud related to personal protective equipment contracts. Work continues to recover costs wherever possible to ensure taxpayer value for money.

Breast Cancer: Research

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications for research grant funds for studies into lobular breast cancer have been submitted to the National Institute for Health and Care Research in the last 24 months.

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will provide £20 million of funding for research for the Lobular Moon Shot Project.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR invests in research, clinical expertise, specialist facilities, workforce and support services across a range of clinical areas. NIHR expenditure on cancer research was £121.8 million in 2022/23.The Department and NIHR are aware of lobular breast cancer and issues in detection and treatment. Lobular breast cancers can be hard to detect through screening. Relevant research includes a £1.3 million NIHR research project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast magnetic resonance imaging can detect breast cancers missed by screening mammography. We would urge researchers working on lobular breast cancer to submit research bids for NIHR funding, including applications to fund the United Kingdom arm of international studies. Details on eligibility and how to apply for Departmental research funding through the NIHR is available and updated on the NIHR website.Since 2021/22, there have been five research grant bids for NIHR funding into lobular breast cancer. The above project was a successful research bid, while there were four unsuccessful applications judged by a scientific panel of peers during the same period. NIHR also supports research on lobular breast cancer through its research infrastructure including Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs). Researchers at NIHR Manchester BRC have shown that women at increased risk of breast cancer who were offered enhanced screening were more likely to survive in the long-term. In addition, NIHR supports breast cancer research funded by research partners in the charity and public sectors through the NIHR’s Clinical Research Network (CRN). Over the last five years the CRN has supported 10 lobular breast cancer-related studies.The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including lobular breast cancer. The Department also continues to work closely with research funding partners such as Cancer Research UK and cancer charities, who fund research into new scientific discoveries.

Elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions she has had with (a) NICE and (b) pharmaceutical companies on the affordability of Kaftrio.

Andrew Stephenson: Departmental officials regularly discuss a range of issues with colleagues in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), including in relation to the development of guidance on individual products. The Department has had no recent discussions with Vertex.NICE is an independent body, and its recommendations are developed in accordance with its published methods and processes. NICE is currently developing guidance for the National Health Service on whether Kaftrio, and other cystic fibrosis medicines, represents a clinically and cost effective use of NHS resources and recently consulted on its draft recommendations. Kaftrio is currently available as a treatment option for eligible NHS patients under the terms of an interim access agreement, which was originally reached in 2019.

Hospitals: Construction

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Hospitals Transformation Programme on the number of beds available for patients.

Andrew Stephenson: Expected capacity requirements and patient need was modelled and outlined in the recent Outline Business Case (OBC) for the Hospitals Transformation Programme in Shropshire. The OBC was reviewed and approved by the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, and HM Treasury in December 2023. The full business case is expected in the coming months.

Prescription Drugs: Internet

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle the sale of prescription-only drugs to patients without a prescription through illicit websites.

Andrew Stephenson: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the regulator in the United Kingdom for human medicines and is responsible for enforcing the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. The MHRA has identified the illegal sale and supply of human medicines as a global challenge. This includes the sale of prescription drugs from unregulated sources. Criminal gangs, often based overseas, advertise medicines through illicit websites resembling those of legitimate pharmacies, while others exploit online marketplaces or sell social media platforms.The MHRA has a dedicated Criminal Enforcement Unit (CEU) that works with partners across government and policing to prevent and disrupt this illegal trade and to bring to justice those involved. The CEU monitors online channels for evidence of illegal activity and takes proportionate regulatory action. This includes using the full range of the Agency’s powers to investigate and prosecute offenders where necessary and appropriate. The unit also works to remove illegally trading websites and remove criminal profits from offenders. Through its #Fakemeds communications campaign the MHRA also provides quick and easy tools to help the public avoid buying illegally traded medicines when they shop online.

Cancer

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make a comparative assessment of the adequacy of funding her Department provides to help tackle (a) less survivable cancers compared to (b) other cancers; and if she will make it her policy to (i) create a framework assessing the challenges around cancers with lower survival rates and (ii) increase funding for those cancers.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government is taking steps through NHS England to improve outcomes for cancer patients, including those with less survivable cancers. Making improvements across different cancer types is critical to helping achieve the NHS Long Term Plan ambition of diagnosing 75% of patients at an early stage by 2028 and reducing inequalities in cancer survival. NHS England has commissioned new cancer clinical audits covering five cancer types, some of which are less survivable: pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, kidney cancer and primary and metastatic breast cancer. All five audits will cover care delivered in England and Wales and will see an investment of approximately £5.4 million for an initial period of three years.NHS England is responsible for funding allocations to integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs then decide how that money is spent within the local integrated care system. The allocations process is independent of Government and NHS England takes advice on the underlying formula from the independent Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation. NHS England produces a target allocation, or 'fair share' for each area, based on a complex assessment of factors such as demography, morbidity, deprivation, and the unavoidable cost of providing services in different areas. This means that funding decisions are fair and equitable.Delivering more research is key to understanding and assessing the challenges around cancers with lower survival rates. As with other Government funders of health research, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) does not allocate funding for specific disease areas, including less survivable cancers. The level of research spend in a particular area is driven by factors including scientific potential and the number and scale of successful funding applications. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including less survivable cancers.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Public Lending Right

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the cyber-attack against the British Library at the end of October 2023 on (a) authors and (b) other rights holders receiving payments via the public lending right.

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her Department's expected timeline is of when the service providing payments to (a) authors and (b) other rights holders will be restored following the cyber-attack against the British Library at the end of October 2023.

Julia Lopez: The British Library receives public funding via DCMS to run the Public Lending Right scheme. Payments are made annually to eligible authors who register their work. The British Library is making good progress towards issuing Public Lending Right payments before the end of March at the latest, in line with the PLR Scheme legislation.

British Library: Cybercrime

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2023 to Question 2570 on British Library: Cybercrime, what estimate has her Department made of the cost of restoring services following the cyber attack at the British Library.

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2023 to Question 2570 on British Library: Cybercrime, which services have already been restored; and what is the planned timetable for the remaining services to be restored.

Julia Lopez: The final costs of recovery from the recent cyber-attack on the British Library are not yet confirmed. As it has from the outset, the British Library remains in close and regular contact with the Department on the ongoing work to investigate and assess the impact of the attack and to recover services.Despite the cyber attack, the British Library’s buildings have remained open and well-used throughout, and it has maintained some key services including reading room access for personal study and some limited collection item ordering, exhibitions, learning events, business support, and onsite retail. In the immediate aftermath essential services such as WiFi and event ticket sales were quickly re-established.On 15 January, the British Library restored a searchable online version of its main catalogue, comprising records of printed books, journals, maps, music scores and rare books. This will enable a manual process of checking availability and ordering to the Reading Rooms. In addition, it will offer access to an increased range of special collection material such as manuscripts and archives. Taken together, these improvements mean that from this date the majority of physical books and special collections held at its St Pancras site will once again be available for use.Further updates will be provided as the Library continues to recover from the attack.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Cutlery

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent replacing lost cutlery in the last twelve months.

James Cartlidge: The data requested is not held centrally and can only be provided at disproportionate cost. Most cutlery is a unit asset obtained through Ministry of Defence stores and supply contracts and managed and replaced by each unit as required.

Army: Modernisation

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the status of the British Army’s modernisation programme is as of 10 January 2024.

James Cartlidge: The Army is modernising and innovating to unlock opportunities at home and abroad, accelerating digitisation, and developing autonomous systems. The Army has reprioritised the investments that underpin the Army’s modernisation plan towards deep fires, electronic warfare, air defence, uncrewed aircraft systems, plus logistics and sustainment.

Guided Weapons: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the budget is for the Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon.

James Cartlidge: The programme budget for the Concept Phase and Assessment Phase was approved at £409 million. The projected whole life costs of the programme are dependent upon the choices to be made at the Full Business Case decision point and have not been finalised. The Assessment Phase started in 2021, is on track and progressing within its approved budget.

Guided Weapons: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the projected full operating capability date is for the air-launched variant of the Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon.

James Cartlidge: The projected full operating capability date for the maritime variant of the Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon is dependent upon the choices to be made at the Full Business Case decision point and has not been finalised.

Guided Weapons: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the in service date is for the Future Offensive Surface Weapon requirement.

James Cartlidge: The planning assumption for service entry for the Future Offensive Surface Warfare requirement of the Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon is 2028; a decision around which options, including off the shelf choices, should fulfil this requirement is ongoing, and will be confirmed in due course in the Full Business Case.

Ministry of Defence: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many purchases with a value of less than £500 were made against his Department’s budget using a Government procurement card (a) in calendar year 2022 and (b) from 1 January to 30 November 2023; and what was the total cost of those purchases.

James Cartlidge: In Calendar Year 2022 the Department recorded 175,053 transactions with a value of less than £500 and the total cost of these purchases has been calculated at £20,035,940.81.Between 1 January 2023 and 30 November 2023 the Department recorded 167,839 transactions with a value of less than £500 and the total cost of these purchases has been calculated at £16,168,468.94.

Boxer Vehicles

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his planned timetable is for delivering Army-Industry trials for the British Army’s new Boxer Mechanised Infantry Vehicles.

James Cartlidge: Joint Army-Industry trials for Boxer commenced in December 2023 following the first formal delivery of vehicles and a period of initial industry trials earlier in the year. Trials will continue through 2024 and into 2025.

Guided Weapons: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the in service date is for the maritime launched variant of the Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon.

James Cartlidge: The planning assumption for service entry for the maritime-launched Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon is 2028; a decision around which options, including off the shelf choices, should fulfil this requirement is ongoing, and will be confirmed in due course in the Full Business Case.

LE TacCIS Programme

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to re-compete the Morpheus contract.

James Cartlidge: As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement dated 14 December 2023, the MORPHEUS Evolve to Open Transition Partner (EvO TP) contract with General Dynamics Missions Systems (UK) (GDMS(UK)), which was focused on evolving the proprietary Bowman system, was concluded in December 2023. The MOD has reached a position where the deliverables are sufficient to enable the future of the MORPHEUS project and the next generation of tactical communications. As Bowman is a proprietary system owned by GDMS(UK), the EvO TP contract cannot be recompeted.Defence will engage with industry on a renewed basis, incorporating the lessons learned from this procurement and move towards delivering the next generation of tactical communications systems, for the benefit of the whole of Defence.

Artillery: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2023 to Question 3572 on Artillery: Procurement, whether the project team has submitted an outline business case for the Mobile Fires Platform programme.

James Cartlidge: An Outline Business Case has now been submitted to the Investment Approvals Committee seeking approval of a procurement option for the Mobile Fires Platform. Once a decision has been reached, I will be happy to update the House.

Red Sea: Shipping

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to send additional defence capabilities to the (a) Gulf of Aden and (b) Red Sea region following the attack on HMS Diamond.

James Heappey: On 11 January 2024, Royal Air Force aircraft joined coalition forces in striking a number of facilities used by the Houthi rebel faction in Yemen to attack shipping in the southern Red Sea. This followed the Houthis persistence in threatening merchant ships and deliberate targeting of HMS Diamond and US Navy vessels on 9 January 2024.This limited, necessary and proportionate action in self-defence was taken alongside the United States against targets tied to these attacks, to degrade Houthi military capabilities and protect global shipping. As announced during the 8 January 2024 Defence Orals, HMS Richmond is sailing from the UK to the Red Sea. We keep operational deployments under review to ensure that we are able to respond to the situation in the region.

Red Sea: Shipping

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Government's policy is on the role of Parliament in military interventions in the Red Sea.

James Heappey: As the Prime Minister explained in his 15 January 2024 oral statement to the House, the need to maximise the security and effectiveness of the 12 January military operation against the Houthis meant it was not possible to bring this matter to the House in advance. The Prime Minister came to update the House at the earliest possible opportunity. The Government remains committed to continuing to update the House.

Military Exercises: Air Pollution

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what guidance his Department provides to those participating in military exercises during episodes of high air pollution.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As set out in Joint Service Publication (JSP) 375, Management of health and safety in Defence, military exercises must be risk assessed to identify and manage potential risks. The accountable person, who may be the commander or manager, must identify hazards and whether reasonable steps are being taken to prevent harm. This process is conducted prior to conducting military exercises and may be further refined during the exercise as part of a dynamic risk assessment.In incidences where there is a risk of poor air quality, specific information on its prevention and mitigation are provided to all service personnel through Force Health Protection Instructions. In certain situations, deployment restrictions may be implemented for those deemed at greatest risk of poor air quality.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of levels of recruitment across the armed forces.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The current level of recruitment to the Armed Forces is lower than we would wish, a challenge we have in common with allies, reflecting a tight recruitment environment. Nevertheless, Defence continues to meet its operational commitments and is undertaking a wide range of activities to improve recruitment performance.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he last met representatives of Capita to discuss armed forces recruitment.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Defence Secretary has not yet had the opportunity to meet with Capita to discuss Armed Forces recruitment. However, Defence Ministers are regularly updated on Armed Forces recruitment, including the Recruiting Partnering Project contract with Capita. Senior principals within the British Army regularly meet with Capita representatives to continue their valued partnership in delivering Army recruitment.

Air Force and Navy: Recruitment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps he has taken to help ensure that recruitment targets for the (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Air Force are met.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided on 17 January 2023 to Question 8675 to the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey). Armed Forces Recruitment (docx, 15.1KB)

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the letter sent of 21 December 2023 from the Minister of Defence People and Families on the Haythornthwaite review of armed forces incentivisation, reference 4/4/2/26/ap, what his planned timetable is for completing the design work for the first elements of the trials to explore a new total reward approach.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The design work for the first elements of the Total Reward Trial have begun. In line with the recommendations of the Haythornthwaite report, we have adopted the ‘think big, start small and scale fast’ approach. Elements of the trial will be implemented over the next 12 months using an engineering cohort. The learnings will inform further design iterations and tests which can be scaled.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the letter of 21 December 2023 from the Minister of Defence People and Families regarding the Haythornthwaite review of armed forces incentivisation, reference code 4/4/2/26/ap, when he plans to have the single recruiting service implemented.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 December 2023 to Question 5218 to the right hon. Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Tobias Ellwood) where I stated that the Recruiting Service will commence from January 2027. Armed Forces: Recruitment (docx, 24.7KB)

Ministry of Defence: Sexual Harassment

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on sexual harassment awareness training for civilian staff in each of the last five years.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Ministry of Defence has implemented a range of training courses. Civilian colleagues do not have a dedicated Sexual harassment awareness training package; instead, this is incorporated into our Diversity and Inclusion training modules which are mandated for all staff, both civilian and military. As such, it is not possible to break this down into a separate cost.

Ministry of Defence: Training

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the letter of 21 December 2023 from the Minister of Defence People and Families on the Haythornthwaite review of armed forces incentivisation, reference 4/4/2/26/ap, what his planned timetable is for fully delivering a new Pan-Defence Skills Framework.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Pan Defence Skills Framework will be fully delivered by the end of March 2025. The process of civilian skill authoring is almost complete, with military skill authoring well underway. User trials have been conducted within test IT environments and will move onto the live IT system through the next few months. Rollout is planned to start in May 2024 and will be aligned with the training and deployment schedule of units, to cause minimal disruption and to ensure the users have a good experience with support and guidance available.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the letter of 21 December 2023 from the Minister of Defence People and Families on the Haythornthwaite review of armed forces incentivisation, reference 4/4/2/26/ap, how he plans to introduce artificial intelligence to recruiting reform.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Defence’s recruitment activity employs a wide range of processes and technology to support the attraction and selection of the best candidates. Limited use of AI is already in place to support elements of recruitment operations, such as assisting candidates with their understanding of Armed Forces employment opportunities. Further employment of technology and AI is part of the review of recruiting reform, ensuring that it can safely and securely offer support to a range of appropriate functions within Defence’s recruiting pipelines.

Air Force and Navy: Recruitment

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff in his Department are working on the in-house recruitment of (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Air Force applicants.

Dr Andrew Murrison: There are currently 453 staff employed to deliver Royal Navy (RN) Recruitment, with an additional surge support of some 85 RN personnel to enable the transition to the New Recruiting Process.There are currently 344 staff employed to deliver Royal Air Force (RAF) Recruitment.

Navy: Recruitment

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the Royal Navy’s ability to recruit sufficient numbers of personnel to meet its obligations.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Royal Navy (RN) continues to meet its operational commitments, but tackling the recruitment challenge is a top priority.The RN has recently streamlined its recruiting and selection process with the aim of reducing the time candidates spend in the recruitment process and to enhance their lived experience.Specific initiatives include an improved medical assessment procedure, increased capacity to surge inflow to the Service, an augmented recruitment workforce to increase outreach, and more face to face recruiting to replace the virtual model used during Covid. The RN has also rolled out a new and improved recruitment website and increased its expenditure on marketing.

Marines and Navy: Recruitment

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on one-off incentive payments to join the (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Marines in the last 12 months.

Dr Andrew Murrison: During the period from January to December 2023, approximately £3.5 million was paid in one-off incentive payments to 543 individuals joining the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.Splitting the incentive payments between the two Services would only be possible at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Defence: Bullying and Harassment

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 3.17 on page 7 of his Department's guidance entitled JSP 763 Behaviours and Informal Complaint Resolution Part 2: Guidance - Informal Complaints Resolution Process, how many complaints involved mediation in each year since 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: This information is not centrally held and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Defence: Bullying and Harassment

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.8 on page 20 of his Department's directive entitled JSP 763 Behaviours and Informal Complaint Resolution Part 1: Directive - Understanding Behaviours in Defence, what estimate he has made of when the training for diversity and inclusion advisers will be (a) formalised and (b) accredited.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Paragraph 4.8 of Joint Service Publication 763 Behaviours and Informal Complaint Resolution Part 1: Directive - Understanding Behaviours in Defence is out of date and will be corrected in the next iteration of the publication. Training for Diversity and Inclusion Advisers (and Practitioners) (D&I A, D&I P) has been formalised and accredited for a number of years. With regard to formalisation, both the Adviser and Practitioner roles in the Ministry of Defence (MOD) are formally recognised (by policy); to execute the duties of either, individuals need to be certified competent, which comes from successful completion of the associated competency-based training courses D&I A and D&I P. The MOD’s Joint Personnel Administration system is used to accredit an individual as being a suitably qualified and experienced person, and the Chartered Management Institute also accredits both courses to Level 3 in D&I Leadership.

Ministry of Defence: Bullying and Harassment

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 5.4 on page 10 of his Department's guidance entitled JSP 763 Behaviours and Informal Complaint Resolution Part 2: Guidance - Informal Complaints Resolution Process, how many agency staff raised a complaint of unacceptable behaviour in each year since 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: This information is not centrally held and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people have worked on the recruitment of armed forces personnel on average in each year since 2010.

Dr Andrew Murrison: It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member’s Question. I will write to him when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

Navy: Recruitment

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) recruitment targets and (b) number of people recruited to the Royal Navy were in each year since 2010.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Figures are as follows for recruitment targets and regular intake to the Royal Navy in each year since 2010: 12 months to:31-March-201131-March-201231-March-201331-March-201431-March-201531-March-201631-March-201731-March-201831-March-201931-March-202031-March-202131-March-202231-March-2023Recruitment Target1,3321,4721,6922,2742,3772,5762,7792,8433,0433,0093,1762,9632,738Regular Intake Total1,3311,4641,6422,1442,1762,1922,3112,2842,3652,6372,9252,4942,001

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of advertising armed forces roles via LinkedIn in meeting his Department’s recruitment targets.

Dr Andrew Murrison: It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member’s Question. I will write to him when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

Reserve Forces: Recruitment

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length of time was to process applications from people wanting to join the (a) regular and (b) reserve forces in each of the last five recruiting years.

Dr Andrew Murrison: It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member’s Question. I will write to him when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

Ministry of Defence: Bullying and Harassment

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 18 of his Department's guidance entitled JSP 763 Behaviours and Informal Complaint Resolution Part 2: Guidance - Informal Complaints Resolution Process published in June 2021, how does his Department protect complainants from victimisation as a result of raising an issue.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Unacceptable behaviour is not tolerated in Defence, and anyone failing to meet our values and standards will be dealt with robustly. There is no place in either the Civil Service or the Armed Forces for unacceptable behaviour, including the victimisation of complainants. Diversity and Inclusion Advisers work to ensure all personnel and employees are aware that any form of discrimination, bullying, harassment or victimisation will not be tolerated, and that any allegation of such behaviour will be properly investigated, as outlined in Joint Service Publication (JSP) 763 and JSP 831 (Redress of Individual Grievances: Service Complaints) or the formal civilian Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination complaints policy and process.

Ministry of Defence: Bullying and Harassment

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 7.2 on page 15 of his Department's guidance entitled JSP 763 Behaviours and Informal Complaint Resolution Part 2: Guidance - Informal Complaints Resolution Process, how many informal complaints resulted in no resolution in each year since 2019.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 7.3 on page 15 of his Department's guidance entitled JSP 763 Behaviours and Informal Complaint Resolution Part 2: Guidance - Informal Complaints Resolution Process, how many informal complaints resulted in a resolution in each year since 2019.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 7.4 on page 15 of his Department's guidance entitled JSP 763 Behaviours and Informal Complaint Resolution Part 2: Guidance - Informal Complaints Resolution Process, how many informal complaints resulted in the situation being monitored for at least one month in each year since 2019.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 7.5 on page 15 of his Department's guidance entitled JSP 763 Behaviours and Informal Complaint Resolution Part 2: Guidance - Informal Complaints Resolution Process, on how many occasions has (a) disciplinary, (b) administrative and (c) misconduct action been taken as a result of unacceptable behaviour in each year since 2019.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph d on page 18 of his Department's guidance entitled JSP 763 Behaviours and Informal Complaint Resolution Part 2: Guidance - Informal Complaints Resolution Process published in June 2021, how many complainants chose to turn their informal complaint into a formal complaint in each year since 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Informal complaints are handled at a local level, any records of informal complaints are not centrally held and could only be reviewed at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Defence: Bullying and Harassment

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 5.10 on page 11 of his Department's guidance entitled JSP 763 Behaviours and Informal Complaint Resolution Part 2: Guidance - Informal Complaints Resolution Process, how many complaints from civil servants wishing to raise a matter about a Ministry of Defence Police officer have been raised in each year since 2019.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 5.10 on page 11 of his Department's guidance entitled JSP 763 Behaviours and Informal Complaint Resolution Part 2: Guidance - Informal Complaints Resolution Process, how many complaints from members of the Ministry of Defence Police wishing to raise a matter about (a) civil servants and (b) service personnel have been raised in each year since 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: There is no central register for the Informal Complaints Resolution Process. The information required to answer the question could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

RAF Henlow

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) plans his Department has and (b) the timetable is for the (i) closure and (ii) disposal of RAF Henlow.

James Cartlidge: The Department continues to work towards the closure and disposal of RAF Henlow from 2026.

NATO: Armed Forces

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Armed Forces personnel were deployed on NATO exercises in (a) 2020, (b) 2021, (c) 2022 and (d) 2023.

James Heappey: Additional time is required to access this information from the Ministry of Defence archives. I will write to the right hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

RAF Chicksands

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution by the Minister for Defence Procurement during the debate on Service Accommodation of 19 December 2023, Official Report, column 500WH, when he plans to write to the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire on Chicksands military base.

James Cartlidge: I can confirm that a letter has been written for the hon. Member, regarding Chicksands military base, and will be sent out imminently.

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) heating and (b) hot water issues were reported in service family accommodation properties in each month in 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) heating and (b) hot water issues were reported in service family accommodation properties in each month in 2023.

James Cartlidge: The number of heating and hot water issues reported in Service Family Accommodation in each month since the new Future Defence Infrastructure Services Accommodation contracts came into service in April 2022 can be found in the table below. Information prior to April 2022 is not held: MonthHeatingHot WaterApr-221,463251May-221,147397Jun-22848397Jul-22752470Aug-22644551Sep-221,354622Oct-221,793517Nov-222,957332Dec-223,690247Jan-233,148235Feb-232,098208Mar-232,026231Apr-231,500272May-23951366Jun-23720401Jul-23724503Aug-23792568Sep-231,038626Oct-232,548795Nov-233,316285Dec-232,516407 The work orders listed in the table above include all repairs associated with heating such as condensate pipes freezing in extremely cold weather or a faulty single radiator valve and are not limited to total loss of heating. Similarly, those listed which relate to hot water include all associated repairs such as a lack of hot water to individual taps and are not limited to total hot water loss. It remains the Department’s position that no home should be left without any form of heating or hot water for more than 24 hours. Where a fault with the permanent heating system cannot be rectified within this timeframe, alternative forms of heating and sources of hot water, or alternative accommodation, should be provided.

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of service family accommodation properties that (a) reported a total loss of and (b) were left without heat or water for more than 24 hours in each month of (i) 2023 and (ii) 2022.

James Cartlidge: It is taking some time to collate the required information, which is held by our contractors, to answer the hon. Member's Question. I will write to him when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

Ministry of Defence: Lisburn

Sir Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is his planned timeline for the disposal of Kirkwoods Road playing fields; and what steps he has taken toward the disposal.

James Cartlidge: The Department has entered into negotiations with a prospective buyer, and the intent is to dispose of the land later this calendar year. The land is being disposed of in accordance with Ministry of Defence processes, which are mandated by His Majesty's Treasury guidelines for the disposal of Government property.

LE TacCIS Programme

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on external consultants for the Morpheus programme.

James Cartlidge: It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the right hon. Member's Question. I will write to him when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

Ministry of Defence: Consultants

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which programmes have benefited from external programme and project management consultancy spending by his Department since 2010.

James Cartlidge: The information requested is not centrally held.

Armed Forces: Food

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was for ration packs for armed forces personnel in each of the last five years.

James Cartlidge: The cost to the public purse for rations packs for Armed Forces personnel in each of the last five years was:Financial YearTotal Spend (to the nearest £1000)2018-1928,056,0002019-2013,861,0002020-216,396,0002021-2214,578,0002022-2317,664,0002023-24 (year to date)14,731,000N.B This information is presented as the cost for each financial year, not calendar year.

Armed Forces: Food

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many inspections have been carried out into the quality of the food served to UK Armed Forces in each of the last five years.

James Cartlidge: The data requested is not held centrally and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Defence: Catering

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many complaints have been made about (a) food and (b) catering services in the defence estate in each year since 2010.

James Cartlidge: The data requested is not held centrally and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Defence: Catering

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is (a) the contract length and (b) total value of each contract for (i) Ararmark, (ii) ESS and (iii) Sodexo in providing food and catering services across the defence estate.

James Cartlidge: This information is not held in the format requested. The HESTIA contract provides full wraparound soft facilities management services to military bases and locations in the United Kingdom, split into seven regions. The regional contracts held by Aramark, ESS and Sodexo range in length from six to 12 years. The HESTIA contract is not limited to catering and includes all other soft facilities management. These services include, but are not limited to, areas such as catering, staffing, cleaning, armouries, tailoring and messing.

Ministry of Defence: Catering

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was for catering across the defence estate in each of the last five years.

James Cartlidge: The data requested is not held centrally and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

HMS Diamond

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether HMS Diamond has entered Yemen's territorial waters during Operation Prosperity Guardian.

James Heappey: No. HMS DIAMOND has not entered Yemeni territorial waters while tasked to Op PROSPERITY GUARDIAN.

HMS Diamond

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether HMS Diamond was in Yemen's territorial waters when it destroyed Houthi drones on 10 January 2024.

James Heappey: On 10 January 2024, HMS DIAMOND was in international waters when she took defensive action to protect herself and commercial shipping from Houthi drone strikes.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he made of the imminence of an attack from Abbs airfield on UK flagged vessels on 11 January 2024.

James Heappey: The two locations struck by the Royal Air Force on 11 January, a base at Bani and the airfield at Abbs, were both targeted because of their proven use by the Houthis as bases from which drones and cruise missiles had been launched over the Red Sea. This was part of a wider set of strikes conducted in concert with the US all intended to counter the very real threat demonstrably and repeatedly posed to shipping in the Red Sea. In each case, specific buildings associated with the drone and missile operations were successfully targeted. At Abbs, a cruise missile launcher caught in the open was also destroyed by our aircraft.

British Indian Ocean Territory: National Security

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the recent military action in Yemen on the level of national security risk associated with the proposed transfer of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

James Heappey: Our clear aim is the continued full operation of the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, which plays a crucial role in national, regional and global security. Mauritius has made clear publicly that it supports this goal. The joint UK/US military facility helps to keep people around the world safe, combatting some of the most challenging threats to international peace and security.We must look at all the risks there could be in any change of circumstances. The UK will only enter into an agreement that protects our national interests and those of our partners.

Ukraine: Armed Forces

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Ukrainian personnel will be trained as part of Operation Interflex in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025.

James Heappey: We are committed to being a long-term partner in the training of Ukrainian armed forces personnel, including at least a further 10,000 by mid-2024.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department made of the extent of likely collateral damage from airstrikes in Yemen on 11 January 2024.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he made of the number of civilians living around Abbs airfield in Yemen before ordering airstrikes on that location.

James Heappey: As my right hon. friend the Prime Minister made clear in his statement to the House on 15 January (Column 577), particular care was taken to minimise any risk of civilian casualties in planning these strikes. To that end, a full and thorough analysis was undertaken prior to approval of the targets and any such risk was further mitigated by the decision to conduct the strikes at night. To date, we have seen no evidence to indicate that either of the RAF strikes, at Bani and Abbs, caused civilian casualties.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the 2022 Political Declaration on strengthening the protection of civilians from the humanitarian consequences arising from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, what steps he is taking to (a) prevent and (b) mitigate the potential impact on civilians of military strikes in Yemen.

James Heappey: The UK is proud to be a signatory of the 2022 Political Declaration on use of explosive weapons in populated areas. The UK has robust procedures to ensure that all military operations, including airstrikes, are conducted in full compliance with International Humanitarian Law and in a manner that reflects the UK's clear commitment to the protection of civilians. In planning military strikes in Yemen, as with all military operations, particular care was taken to minimise any risk of civilian casualties. As my Rt Hon friend the Prime Minister made clear in his statement to the House on 15 January (Column 577), we have seen no evidence of any collateral damage or civilian casualties arising from the strikes conducted by the Royal Air Force on Houthi military facilities.

Attorney General

Aiding and Abetting

Kim Johnson: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2024 to Question 8608 on Aiding and Abetting, what consideration the Crown Prosecution Service gives to a suspect’s level of (a) intention to assist or encourage and (b) contribution to the commission of an offence when making charging decisions using joint enterprise laws.

Robert Courts: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance on secondary liability (Secondary Liability: charging decisions on principals and accessories | The Crown Prosecution Service (cps.gov.uk)) provides guidance to CPS prosecutors on what needs to be proved in respect of the secondary party’s participation in an offence.The secondary party, by words or conduct, must encourage or assist the commission of the offence by another person, and must intend to do so.Mere accidental presence at the scene of an offence or mere association with the principal offender or a group or gang will not alone be sufficient to prove that a secondary party participated in the offence.If the offence requires a particular intent, the secondary party must intend to assist or encourage the other person to act with that intent.The CPS guidance provides a number of scenarios to demonstrate the type and level of participation that may amount to assistance or encouragement.The guidance also contains a section on intent (see “Mens rea – Intent”) that explains in detail how intent may be proved in practice, in relation to various types of scenarios.

Aiding and Abetting

Kim Johnson: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2024 to Question 8608, Aiding and Abetting, if she will direct the Crown Prosecution Service to clarify in future guidance that joint enterprise only applies where persons intentionally assist or encourage another to commit a crime.

Robert Courts: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance is issued in accordance with the law as it currently stands.The law on joint enterprise is a common law doctrine and is not currently governed by statute. A decision to legislate in this area (if deemed appropriate) is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Justice.The current guidance covers the main principles of joint enterprise, as clarified in the lead case of R v Jogee. It is clearly stated in the guidance that a secondary party to an offence must intend to encourage or assist the commission of the crime by another person.

Home Office

Police: Elections

Chloe Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Security Minister's role leading the Defending Democracy Taskforce, if he will take steps to appoint (a) a lead police force and (b) a lead officer in each police force for election security and electoral offences.

Tom Tugendhat: The Defending Democracy Taskforce seeks to protect the democratic integrity of the UK from the threats of foreign interference working across government and with operational partners, including Counter Terrorism Policing as a standing Taskforce member.The National Police Chiefs’ Council has a national portfolio lead for policing of elections. This role is currently held by Assistant Commissioner Nik Adams of the City of London Police.The National Police Operations Centre (NPoCC) are coordinating national planning for policing relating to the elections. This work is bringing together regional representatives from police forces to ensure efficient and effective national coordination for the preparation, planning and delivery of policing responses to elections in the UK.

Cybercrime: Solihull

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to tackle cyber-related crime in Solihull constituency.

Tom Tugendhat: Tackling cyber crime is at the heart of the Government’s National Cyber Strategy 2022-25, which is supported by £2.6 billion of investment through the National Cyber Fund.Key to delivery is ensuring that local policing has the resources needed to deal with the cyber threats we face. In 2023/24, the Home Office is receiving £18 million from the National Cyber Fund to provide a range of capabilities and resource to tackle and respond to cyber crime. This funding is supplemented by a further £16 million of Home Office funding through the Police Settlement Programme.This funding continues to build law enforcement capabilities at the national, regional, and local levels to ensure they have the capacity and expertise to deal with the perpetrators and victims of cyber crime. We directly fund a specialist Cyber Crime Unit at West Midlands Police, which covers Solihull, and another, more specialist team, at the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU). This ROCU team is integral to our response to high-harm, high-impact crimes like cyber extortion.This Regional Cyber Crime Unit for West Midlands (RCCUWM) also works with businesses and organisations based in Solihull, across the private and public sectors, and at community level. Under the Local Resilience Forum, RCCUWM work with Solihull Council, amongst others, to build stronger cyber security and resilience. A key part of RCCUWM’s work is to ensure the integrity of our Critical National Infrastructure providers, and they have a long-standing partnership with NHS Birmingham Solihull (BSOL) Integrated Care System and NHS England.We have also rolled out Regional Cyber Resilience Centres in London and each of the nine policing regions, including the West Midlands.  These are a collaboration between the police, public, private sector and academic partners to provide cyber security advice to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises so that they can protect themselves better in a digital age. Details of the Cyber Resilience Centre for the West Midlands can be found at Cyber Resilience | The Cyber Resilience Centre For The West Midlands (wmcrc.co.uk)All vulnerable victims of fraud and cyber crime in Solihull receive contact and Protect advice from law enforcement, specifically aimed at helping them to protect themselves in future from revictimization.The specialist RCCUWM Prevent Team also work to intervene if people are deemed at risk of becoming involved in cyber offending. RCCUWM deliver the National Cyber Choices programme and have delivered multiple initiatives across Solihull, including working with schools to help them identify those at risk. Solihull local police officers support these important safeguarding interventions.

Home Office: Feltham and Heston

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) schemes and (b) grants their Department administers that are open for (i) individuals, (ii) organisations and (iii) other groups in Feltham and Heston constituency to apply for as of 10 January 2024.

Chris Philp: The Home Office conducts its business in a fair, open and transparent manner.All our contracts are awarded by competition between potential suppliers, unless there are compelling reasons why competition cannot be used.Where required, contracts in the relevant categories are advertised on Find a Tender Service at https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search. This is the UK e-notification service.There are no current grant opportunities in scope.

Asylum: Hotels

Sarah Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what alternative accommodation his Department is providing for asylum seekers being moved out of hotels.

Tom Pursglove: We are making significant progress in closing hotels, with 50 due to be closed by the end of January and many more in the coming months.The programme of closures will be managed carefully to ensure all supported asylum seekers are provided with suitable alternative accommodation elsewhere in the estate. Dispersal accommodation and large disused military sites are cheaper for the taxpayer and less impactful on the communities.

Home Office: Public Appointments

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2023 to Question 171 on Home Office: Consultants, whether his Department plans to publish the outcome of the recruitment process for the role of the Independent Advisor for the Defending Democracy Taskforce and Open-Source Intelligence Hub.

Tom Tugendhat: In line with similar appointments, the Home Office will publish the outcome of the recruitment process for the role of the Independent Advisor for the Defending Democracy Taskforce and Open-Source Intelligence Hub.

Police: Pensions

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has received recent representations on the financial impact of the police pension scheme 2015 on retired police officers.

Chris Philp: Retired police officers have written recently to ask when they will receive information about the remedy, to resolve a discrimination case, that came into force from October 2023. This information is not held centrally.The police pension scheme is locally administered by each of the separate police forces in England and Wales. The Home Office does not have any role in the administration of police pensions.

Immigration Controls: Northern Ireland

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had discussions with his Irish counterpart on trends in irregular migration flows via Irish ports in the last 12 months.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office has discussed migration with the Irish Department of Justice on several occasions over the last 12 months, including on matters relating to irregular migration trends via Ireland.

Migrant Workers: Visas

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department carried out an equality impact assessment on the recent proposed changes to visa salary thresholds.

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed changes to visa salary thresholds on individuals living in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.

Tom Pursglove: Analytical work has been undertaken across Government to support decision making in this process. A fact sheet and an initial assessment on the impact of the changes on immigration can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fact-sheet-on-net-migration-measures-further-detail and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/legal-migration-statement-estimated-immigration-impacts/legal-migration-statement-estimated-immigration-impacts-accessible.A full Regulatory Impact Assessment on these changes will be developed and the Government will publish an Equality Impact Assessment on this change, both in due course.

Knives: Bournemouth East

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the rise in fatal knife related incidents in Bournemouth East constituency.

Chris Philp: The Government is committed to ensuring that the police have the resources they need to tackle violent crime. That is why I have recently confirmed Dorset’s police funding settlement of £179.8 million in 2024/25, an increase of up to £11.1 million when compared to 2023/24. I am also pleased to have recently approved, on an exceptional basis, an additional £600 thousand in 23/24 to enable the police to respond recent exceptional policing demand arising in Bournemouth.We have also increased the number of police officers through the Police Uplift Programme and as of 31 March 2023, 20,947 additional officers have been recruited in England and Wales delivering on the manifesto commitment of 20,000 more police officers by the end of March 2023. As of 31 March 2023, Dorset has recruited 174 additional uplift officers against a total three-year allocation of 166 officers and at this time there were 1,441 police officers in Dorset, a total growth of 174 additional officers against the baseline (1,267) at the start of the Police Uplift Programme.We keep all relevant legislation under review in the interests of public safety and we recently consulted on new legislative proposals to tackle knife crime and published the government response on 30 August 2023. As a result, in the Criminal Justice Bill, we have introduced provisions to:o Provide more powers for police to seize knives held in private that could be used in crimes .o Increase the maximum penalty for the offences of selling prohibited weapons and selling knives to under 18s.o Create a new offence of possessing an article with blade or point or offensive weapon with intent to use unlawful violence or cause someone to fear unlawful violence.And via secondary legislation we will introduce, in the next few weeks, a new ban on zombie-style machetes and knives that seem to appeal who those who want to use them as weapons.In addition, we have introduced the Serious Violence Duty, which requires relevant agencies to work in partnership to tackle violence. Funding has also been provided to support implementation of the duty (for Dorset amounting to £292 thousand in the 23/24, with funding continuing in 24/25).

Home Office: Interpreters

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of awarding a pay rise to interpreters working for the Home Office.

Tom Pursglove: Interpreters are not Home Office employees and undertake freelance work commissioned by the Home Office through contracts for services.As with other requirements, the Home Office works with specialist suppliers to ensure contracted services are cost effective, and delivered to a high standard, with in-built quality measures. These contracts are regularly reviewed.The Home Office keeps our costs under constant review, working alongside other government departments, suppliers and representation bodies to promote sustainable and affordable rates.

Dangerous Dogs

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 3839 on Dangerous Dogs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on resourcing for the implementation of the ban on American Bully XL type dogs.

Chris Philp: My Department continues to work closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to ensure the successful implementation of the ban on XL Bully type dogs.

Asylum: Warrington

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether asylum seekers accommodated in Woolston, Warrington are included in the cleared asylum backlog.

Tom Pursglove: Information regarding asylum seekers in receipt of support by local authority can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/655bae5a046ed400148b9c8d/support-local-authority-datasets-sep-2023.xlsx.This does not contain a breakdown of the distribution of asylum seekers within the legacy cohort. We are not able to provide this information as it is not routinely published.

Treasury

Theatre: Corporation Tax

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Government’s draft legislative changes to part 15C of the Corporation Tax Act 2009 on (a) jobs and (b) new productions in the theatre sector; and if he will meet UK Theatre and the Society of London Theatre to discuss those changes.

Nigel Huddleston: HMRC has published two information notes on Administrative changes to the creative industry tax reliefs and, Clarifications of the rules for cultural tax reliefs. These notes include impacts of the changes and can be found here: Administrative changes to the creative industry tax reliefs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and Clarifications of the rules for cultural tax reliefs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Officials held a meeting with Society of London Theatre to discuss the theatre tax relief draft legislative changes on 23 November 2023.

Trader Support Service

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the technology used in HMRC's trader support service system; and if he will require the implementation of an urgent independent assessment of the performance of that technology since it was introduced.

Nigel Huddleston: The Trader Support Service (TSS) is operating smoothly and consistently. To date, over 54.5K businesses have registered for the TSS and more than 40.5K of those businesses regularly use it. The service has processed over 1.25m goods movements, involving more than 4.6m consignments, playing an important role in ensuring the free flow of goods within the UK’s internal market. Governance structures are in place to review the TSS’ performance and IT functionality to ensure it continues to meet its intended purpose. HMRC also monitors customer satisfaction scores, customer feedback and management information to continuously improve the service. The customer satisfaction score in 2023 was 85%.

Military Aid: Ukraine

Sir Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which Government Departments will contribute towards the recently announced £2.5 billion assistance package for Ukraine; how much each Department will (a) provide towards that total, (b) receive in extra sums granted by the Treasury to offset that contribution and (c) donate in terms of resources towards that total without reimbursement from the Treasury.

Laura Trott: This is new funding. No department is being asked to contribute to this package.

Financial Services: Environment Protection

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 17 October 2023 to Question 200203 on Financial Services: Environment Protection, when he plans to publish the next stage of the UK Green Taxonomy process.

Bim Afolami: The Government remains committed to delivering a UK Green Taxonomy to support an increase in financing for activities supporting the transition to net zero and delivering on UK environmental objectives. We expect to consult shortly. Following the consultation, we will analyse responses and provide a government response in accordance with Cabinet Office consultation principles, with a view to finalising the Taxonomy.

Public Finance: Non-fungible Tokens

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential role of Non-Fungible Tokens in tackling corruption in the administration of public finances.

Bim Afolami: HM Treasury has made no assessment of the potential role of non-fungible tokens in tackling corruption in the administration of public finances.

Cash Dispensing: Fees and Charges

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Payment Systems Regulator on ATM interchange fees.

Bim Afolami: Treasury Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-giftsand-overseas-travel

Department for Business and Trade

Floods: Compensation

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what financial support is available to businesses that have (a) been disrupted and (b) had stock damaged as a result of flooding.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Business Recovery Grant (BRG), part of the Flooding Framework, provides £2500 per affected business premises to small and medium sized businesses in the immediate aftermath of flooding to help them get back on their feet.This support was provided in October 2023 in response to Storm Babet and those affected by Storm Henk interested in the BRG should contact their Local Authority for details and qualification requirements.Businesses significantly affected by recent flooding could also be eligible for business rates relief via schemes delivered by DLUHC and via DEFRA schemes.

MADE: Redundancy Pay

Sir Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the decision to make a protective award to former employees of MADE.COM, what steps she is taking to help tackle the delays in processing redundancy payments by the Redundancy Payments Service.

Kevin Hollinrake: My officials at the Insolvency Service’s Redundancy Payments Service have confirmed that due to uncertainties around the period detailed in the Protective Award consent order, legal advice was required before payments could be made. All other redundancy related payments due to the former employees of MADE.COM, which total £436,000, have already been paid. I am pleased to confirm that following resolution, payments under the Protective Award have now commenced.

British Shipbuilders: Pension Funds

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many people who paid into the British Shipbuilders pension fund were not receiving pension payments on 15 January 2024.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: British Shipbuilder pensions were transferred to Legal & General on 1 December 1994. His Majesty’s Government does not hold any data on the number of former employees who are in receipt of pensions.

Ministry of Justice

Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme Review

Andrew Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his planned timetable is for the publication of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme Review 2020.

Laura Farris: I am grateful to all who took the time to contribute views to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme Review 2020 and the other consultations we ran in 2022 and 2023 as part of our Scheme review.We are carefully considering the responses received and plan to publish a single response to all three consultations as soon as possible in 2024.

Wetherby Young Offender Institution: Women

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 19 December 2023 to Question 7116 on Wetherby Young Offender Institution: Females, what his estimate is of the cost to the public purse of a child placed in youth custody in the new Oasis Restore Secure School.

Edward Argar: The Oasis Restore School is due to open in the spring. Current estimates suggest an annual cost-per-place of around £277,000.

Prisoners' Release: Housing

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many former prisoners were given tents to live in when leaving prison in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: There is no official policy to issue tents as part of releasing people from prison, therefore the Ministry of Justice does not collect data on the number of tents issued. As such no information can be provided.Our Prisons Strategy White Paper set out our plans to reduce reoffending, including improving prison leavers’ access to accommodation. This includes delivering our transitional accommodation service, known as Community Accommodation Service – Tier 3 (CAS-3), which provides up to 84 nights of basic temporary accommodation for prison leavers who would otherwise be homeless.CAS-3 launched in five initial probation regions in July 2021. The service was expanded to Wales in June 2022, with expansion to the remaining six probation regions in England by the end of last year, to support the thousands of offenders who leave prison homeless.Between 01 July 2021 and 31 March 2023 5,796 individuals, who would have otherwise been homeless, were accepted on to CAS-3.

Prisons: Drugs

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many drug recovery programmes were delivered in prisons in (a) 2010, (b) 2018 and (c) 2023.

Edward Argar: Drug treatment in prisons is commissioned by NHS England, and data from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System is held by the Department of Health and Social Care. Published data on drug treatment in secure settings, including numbers in treatment, is available dating back to 2015. This can be found at:2021/22: Substance misuse treatment in secure settings: 2021 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).2018/19: Substance misuse treatment in secure settings: 2018 to 2019 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)2017/18: Substance misuse treatment in secure settings: 2017 to 2018 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)2015/16: Substance misuse treatment in secure settings: statistics 2015 to 2016 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)As part of the ambitious cross-Government Drug Strategy, the Ministry of Justice is rolling out a range of interventions to support prisoners off drugs and into recovery. This includes increasing the number of Incentivised Substance-Free Living wings from 25 in summer 2022 to 68 now, and testing a new approach to help prisoners with an opiate dependency achieve abstinence, with the opening of 7 abstinence-based Drug Recovery Wings. We are also recruiting dedicated staff in prisons to focus on tackling drugs, and supporting prisoners to engage with community treatment pre-release.

Burglary: Reoffenders

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the re-offending rate for individuals serving a custodial sentence for burglary is.

Edward Argar: The proven reoffending rate for the October to December 2021 offender cohort (the latest available) who had an index offence of burglary and served a custodial sentence for this offence was 48.3%.This Government is committed to tackling reoffending and keeping our communities safe. We are investing to address reoffending through a number of initiatives including:rolled out our temporary accommodation service to all probation regions to support thousands of prison leavers who would otherwise have been released homeless;delivering our Prison Education Service which aims to raise prisoners’ levels of literacy, numeracy and skills to help them secure jobs on release;recruiting 92 Prison Employment Leads across all our resettlement prisons to match prisoners to jobs; andintroducing Employment Advisory Boards across 92 prisons, chaired by local business leaders, which link prisons with local industry in order to align skills work in prison with labour market need.As a result, 5796 prison leavers have been supported through our temporary accommodation service between 1 July 2021 and 31 March 2023, while the proportion of prison leavers in employment six months after release has more than doubled in the two years to March 2023 from 14% to over 30%.Between 2010/11 and 2020/21, the overall proven reoffending rate decreased from 31.6% to 24.4%.

Prisoners' Release: Christmas

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Discretionary Friday/pre-Bank Holiday Release Scheme Policy Framework, last updated on 8 December 2023, how many offenders with scheduled release dates between 22 and 26 December 2023 were released on (a) 20 and (b) 21 December 2023 under the terms of that framework, by each offence committed by those offenders.

Edward Argar: This policy created a presumption that all offenders due for release on a Friday or the day before a bank/public holiday will be eligible for release up to two working days earlier unless exceptional circumstances apply.It addresses the practical challenges posed by Friday releases in order for offenders to turn their back on crime. Releasing offenders earlier in the week will help them to access the key services that they need, such as drugs rehabilitation and mental health support. This better enables stable and law-abiding resettlement, reducing their risk of reoffending and ensuring public protection is maintained.For the adult estate, data covering prisoner releases in December under this policy forms a subset of data planned for release in the regular Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication, and therefore the Department is not able to provide the requested information at this time.The Youth Custody Service holds this data for the Children and Young People Secure Estate which shows fewer than 5 children or young people were due for release between 22nd and 26th December. Data suppression rules (in this case numbers of individuals fewer than 5) in place to protect the anonymity of individuals prevent disclosure of the exact figure and offence type. However, all those children or young people due for release within the period were released in accordance with policy on December 20.

Prisoners: Release: Christmas

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders were released on temporary licence for Christmas Day in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023, broken down by each offence committed.

Edward Argar: Data on the number of individuals recorded as temporarily released from prison on 25 December 2022, broken down by main offence category, has been published in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI 230910004) and may be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foi-releases-for-october-2023.Requested data for Christmas 2023 forms a subset of data planned for release in the regular Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication, and therefore the Department is not able to provide the requested information at this time.Offenders released on temporary licence are subject to strict conditions and risk assessment. Any breaches can result in more time behind bars.

Ministry of Justice: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many purchases with a value of less than £500 were made against his Department’s budget using a Government procurement card (a) in calendar year 2022 and (b) from 1 January to 31 May 2023; and what was the total cost of those purchases.

Mike Freer: In 2022 and from 1 January to 31 May 2023, the Ministry of Justice (the departmental group including agencies and Arm’s Length Bodies) made the following number of purchases of goods and services with a value of less than £500 on a government procurement card.  20221 January to 31 May 2023No of transactions (includes purchases and refunds)295,058128,673Net value£28,370,116.77£13,215,783.38

Reoffenders: Sentencing

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the College of Policing's publication entitled Imprisonment and other custodial sanctions, published on 30 November 2023, if he will (a) make and (b) publish an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings of that publication on the impact on reoffending of (i) custodial and (ii) non-custodial sentences.

Gareth Bacon: The Government has no plans to publish an assessment of the implications of this publication, as the findings of the College of Policing’s report entitled ‘Imprisonment and other custodial sanctions’ support the findings of Ministry of Justice research.A 2019 MoJ analysis of a matched cohort of over 30,000 offenders shows that those who serve sentences of immediate custody of less than 12 months reoffend at a rate higher than similar offenders given community orders and suspended sentence orders by the courtsOur statistics suggest that 55% of people given a custodial sentence of less than 12 months are convicted for further crimes. For offenders punished with Suspended Sentence Orders with requirements that are served in the community, the reoffending rate is significantly lower at 24%.Based on this evidence, the Government introduced the presumption to suspend short sentences as part of the Sentencing Bill, currently before Parliament. This measure will place a duty on the courts to suspend custodial sentences of 12 months or less. Offenders will then serve their sentence in the community and will be required to comply. When the court imposes a suspended sentence, they can impose requirements on the offender and the sentencing framework provides a flexible range of requirements, such as unpaid work, drug and alcohol treatment, curfew, and electronic monitoring, with the intention of punishing the offender, providing reparation to the community, and addressing any criminogenic or rehabilitative needs of the offender which may otherwise increase the likelihood of their reoffending.

McClure Solicitors: Insolvency

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to (a) support clients of McClure Solicitors and (b) ensure former clients are aware of the firm’s collapse and the potential consequences for their legal arrangements.

Mike Freer: The legal profession in England and Wales operates independently of government. The responsibility for regulating the sector sits with the approved regulators, overseen by the Legal Services Board (LSB). The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is responsible for regulating the professional conduct of solicitors, as well as most law firms in England and Wales. The SRA’s role involves protecting clients and the public. The different ways in which they can provide support to consumers of legal services can be found on their website: SRA | What you can expect from us | Solicitors Regulation Authority. For clients based in Scotland, the Law Society of Scotland (TLSS) is the professional body responsible for regulating Scottish solicitors. They have confirmed that they are taking measures to meet their regulatory obligations and assist consumers impacted by the collapse of WW & J McClures. Advice for those affected by the collapse of McClures can be accessed on TLSS’s website: https://www.lawscot.org.uk/news-and-events/law-society-news/mcclures-jones-whyte-faqs/. The Government is aware of the issues surrounding WW & J McClures collapse, which involve multiple regulators responding to former clients across Scotland, England and Wales. Government officials have spoken to the SRA, which has confirmed that it is aware of the issues at hand and is continuing to investigate them at a senior level. There are several routes in place to ensure consumers have access to support in the event of the collapse of their solicitor’s law firm. The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) deals with service complaints against regulated legal services providers – including those who are no longer operational. Their website provides information with regards to the different routes available for consumers depending on their personal circumstances: Complaining about closed service providers | Legal Ombudsman. With regards to the issue of raising awareness among clients of McClures, there are requirements with respect to the advertising and publication of an insolvency so that creditors and other interested parties are made aware. The administration of McClures was advertised as required in the London Gazette. Information for former clients of McClures in Scotland was also published by Law Society of Scotland. In addition, for clients of McClures across Great Britain, Jones Whyte published an extensive list of FAQs, covering the number of clients it had taken on, the steps it was taking to contact those clients, and the procedure for clients to transfer to another legal firm if they wished.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Nicaragua: Religous Freedom

Ruth Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to help promote the freedom of religion or belief in Nicaragua.

David Rutley: We share widespread international concern about the suppression of human rights in Nicaragua, including the right to freedom of religion or belief. In June 2023, in her capacity as Chair of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy, Fiona Bruce MP, issued an international statement condemning the continued persecution of the Catholic Church by the Nicaraguan Government. In my tweet on 16 January, I also condemned the detention of Catholic priests by the Nicaraguan Government. We continue to work with international partners to put pressure on the Ortega regime to re-establish democratic and other essential freedoms in Nicaragua.

Gaza: Israel

Andrew Selous: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what information his Department holds on (a) the raid by Israel Defence Forces on the premises of Action around Bethlehem Children with Disability in Gaza on 3 January 2024 and (b) the destruction of paperwork and the removal of children's clothing; and whether he has held discussions with his Israeli counterpart on this matter.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We are aware of these reports. We continue to stress the importance of the Israeli security forces providing appropriate protection to the Palestinian civilian population, in particular the need to protect children. In our dialogue with the Israeli authorities we have recognised their legitimate need to deploy security measures. However, we encourage them to deploy these in a way which minimises tension. In instances where there have been accusations of excessive use of force, we have advocated swift, transparent investigations.We continue to call for international humanitarian law to be respected and civilians to be protected. Too many civilians have been killed and we want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes. We regularly raise the issue with the Israeli authorities, including encouraging transparent investigations into whether use of live fire had been appropriate and to use restraint in deploying live fire.

Nicaragua: Clergy

Ruth Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has had discussions with its Nicaraguan counterparts on the arrests of Catholic priests.

David Rutley: The arbitrary detention of political leaders and of members of the Catholic Church by the Nicaragua authorities is of deep concern to the UK. These arrests represent an unacceptable degradation of Nicaraguans' civil, political, and other human rights. As I tweeted on 16 January, the UK welcomes the release of Bishop Álvarez and other clergy from unjust detention but condemns their expulsion from Nicaragua. We will continue to call in both bilateral and multilateral settings, for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Nicaragua, including remaining members of the Catholic Church.

Nigeria: Christianity

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has held recent discussions with his counterpart in Nigeria on the persecution of Christians in that country.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Promoting the Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities. Rising insecurity has impeded on the rights of people of all faiths in Nigeria. The UK supports Nigeria to deliver on its constitutional commitment to FoRB through ongoing development programming and security cooperation. The UK also regularly raises FoRB with the Nigerian Government and will be an active participant in the upcoming UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process for Nigeria which provides an opportunity to raise questions and recommendations on a country's human rights record, including FoRB.

Sudan: Humanitarian Aid

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps he had taken to support the humanitarian situation in Sudan.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his international counterparts on taking steps to increase humanitarian aid to Sudan.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is working with regional and international partners, to help bring an end to the hostilities, ensure the protection of civilians and secure safe humanitarian access to and for the most at-need communities. In November the UK, alongside Norway, jointly funded the Sudan Humanitarian Conference which took place in Cairo from 18-20 November. This brought together Sudanese grassroots organisations, NGOs and the international humanitarian system to develop coordination mechanisms to give a greater voice to Sudanese organisations in the humanitarian response. The UK continues to provide assistance to the many people in need in Sudan through our humanitarian aid package of £36 million for 2023-2024.

Alaa Abdel Fattah

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he discussed a timeline for the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah at his meeting with the Egyptian President on 20 December 2023.

David Rutley: Ministers and officials continue to raise Mr Alaa Abd El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian government and have been consistently clear in calls for his release, while continuing to press the need for urgent consular access. The Foreign Secretary and Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon raised his case with President Sisi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry on 21 December 2023. The Prime Minister also recently raised Mr El-Fattah's case with President Sisi on 1 December 2023.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Procurement

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January to Question 8388 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Procurement, if he will take steps to either (a) ensure that hon. Members can log in to his Department's Jaggaer e-sourcing tool to access the information referred to in that Answer or (b) make alternative arrangements for hon. Members to access that information by other means.

David Rutley: The sixteen locations where the services are required are detailed below:LocationAddis AbabaBeijingBerlinBostonBrasiliaBuenos AiresCanberraDublinGenevaLuxembourgOttawaPraguePretoriaStockholmViennaWellingtonThis information is available within the tender documentation outlined within Attachment 4 - Statement of Service Requirements under Paragraph 5.4. This information is available via the FCDO e-sourcing tool Jaggaer which is accessible by suppliers: [https://fcdo.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html], interested suppliers are able to create a log in and access the documents via this system.Additionally, once the contract has been awarded, a contract award notice along with a redacted contract will be published via Contracts Finder, [https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder].

Yemen: Military Intervention

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he plans to pause discussions with Mauritius on the proposed transfer of the Chagos Islands to that country in the context of the military action taken in Yemen in response to maritime piracy.

David Rutley: Our clear aim is the continued full operation of the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, which plays a crucial role in national, regional and global security. Mauritius has made clear publicly that it supports this goal. The joint UK/US military facility helps to keep people around the world safe, combatting some of the most challenging threats to international peace and security.We must look at all the risks there could be in any change of circumstances. The UK will only enter into an agreement that protects our national interests and those of our partners.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help secure the permanent opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK Government welcomed Israel's opening of the Karem Shalom crossing in December for humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary were among the first to call on Israel to do this, including with Prime Minister Netanyahu. We urge Israel to extend the opening hours and capacity of the Nitzana screening facility and open the Kerem Shalom checkpoint to 7 days a week, so that more trucks, aid and fuel can enter Gaza.We call on Israel to open further routes for aid to Gaza, such as Asdod Port and the Erez crossing.

Marshall Scholarships

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what his Department's remaining budgeting is for supporting Marshall scholarships in the current spending review period.

David Rutley: In this spending review period, FCDO funding to the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission (MACC) to manage the Marshall Scholarship, is £2.7 million per annum. In 24/25 the Prime Minister announced as part of the Atlantic Declaration in June 2023 an uplift to the MACC of £1.4 million, meaning £4.1 million will be provided to the MACC in the next financial year.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential risk to civilians of a closure of Hudaydah port.

David Rutley: Yemen is almost entirely reliant on imports for food, importing approximately 90 per cent of food staples such as wheat. Hodeidah Port is key to food security in Yemen, as it receives 40 to 50 per cent of the country's food imports, as well as essential food aid.The disruption to shipping in the Red Sea caused by Houthi attacks, risks driving up costs of supplies of food and humanitarian aid in the region, including to Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Lebanon.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many purchases with a value of less than £500 were made against his Department’s budget through a Government procurement card in calendar year 2022; and what was the total cost of those purchases.

David Rutley: Government Procurement Cards provide an efficient route to enable key staff to procure goods and services, necessary to the promotion of British interests overseas and the maintenance of our embassies and high commissions. All purchases are subject to authorisation by managers and audit checks.In the calendar year 2022 there were 133,292 transactions under £500. These transactions amounted to a total spend value of £13,563,777.20. This figure relates to spend on all Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) issued Government Procurement Cards and may therefore include costs eventually charged to the budgets of other Government Departments.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Written Questions

Andy McDonald: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, when he plans to respond to Questions 8440, 8441 and 8442 on Israel:Gaza tabled on 8 January 2024 by the hon. Member for Middlesbrough.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: I am writing to the honourable member separately on this matter. We are working hard to respond to these questions as quickly as possible, and apologise for the delay in doing so, which in no way reflects an unwillingness to answer these questions. Rather, these questions cover subjects which are dynamic and fast moving, and necessarily require detailed work to ensure a complete, accurate and up-to-date response in the context of fast-moving developments.

Bangladesh: Human Rights

Dan Carden: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Bangladesh.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Bangladesh is a Human Rights Priority Country for the UK. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, Minister for South Asia, raised human rights with Prime Minister Hasina when they met in October. Our statement following the recent election in Bangladesh reiterated our position on human rights and the rule of law, which are essential elements of the democratic process. We regularly engage with the Government of Bangladesh on the treatment of those in detention and on the integrity and independence of the judicial process. We will continue to work with the Government of Bangladesh to address human rights concerns, and will support efforts towards a stable, prosperous, and democratic Bangladesh.

Armed Conflict: Children and Civilians

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has a strategy on protecting children and civilian in conflict zones.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will develop a strategy for the protection of children in conflict zones.

Leo Docherty: The UK recognises that protecting children from the effects of armed conflict is a moral, legal, and strategic imperative and essential in breaking the cycle of violence.The UK is an active member of the UNSC Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC), which leads the international response to violations committed against children in conflict.As announced in the 2023 International Development White Paper, the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office is committed to publishing a children in conflict strategy.

Development Aid: Genito-urinary Medicine

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much his Department has spent on official development assistance for sexual and reproductive health and rights in each year since 2010.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) annually reports on Official Development Assistance (ODA) expenditure via the Statistics on International Development publications (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development).We report spend in line with OECD Development and Assistance Committee sector codes and do not readily hold spend on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), which can span across the OECD sector codes.

Gaza: Israel

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that individuals are held to account for alleged human rights violations in the conflict in Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Israel has endured the worst terrorist attack in its history at the hands of Hamas. We support Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas, but it must comply with International Humanitarian Law.We continue to closely monitor the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including with reference to alleged violations of human rights in Gaza.In Israel's case, in the first instance, the UK Government would expect the Israeli domestic legal system to investigate and, where appropriate, take action against those accused of human rights violations and abuses, including members of Hamas.

Kashmir: Politics and Government

Sarah Owen: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Countering Illegal Migration during the debate on the Draft Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (Amendment of List of Safe States) Regulations 2024 of 10 January 2024, if it is his policy that the region of Jammu and Kashmir is part of India.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK's long-standing position is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting political resolution on Kashmir, taking into account the wishes of Kashmiri people.

Maldives: China and India

Catherine West: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of tensions between India and China over the Maldives.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: HMG has an important bilateral relationship with the Maldives, which is independent of the Maldives' relationships with other countries. We are engaging positively with the new Maldivian Government on a wide range of UK interests. The UK Government understands that all nations have to balance relationships with many countries, and that different governments will take different approaches to their foreign policy. India and China have an important relationship with one another, and any wider issues are for them to resolve bilaterally through dialogue.

Apollinaris Darmawan

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the imprisonment of Apollinaris Darmawan in Indonesia.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK government is aware of Apollinaris Darmanwan's imprisonment. The UK government is committed to upholding freedom of speech and promoting freedom of religion in Indonesia. Officials at the British Embassy in Jakarta routinely meet members of all six officially recognised faiths and discuss the importance of freedom of religious belief.

China: Foreign Relations

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many discussions he had with his counterpart in the People’s Republic of China in the final quarter of 2023.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The Foreign Secretary had a phone call with Foreign Minister and Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi on 5 December 2023. During the conversation, the Foreign Secretary and Wang Yi discussed the UK-China relationship, the situation in Israel and Gaza and Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Taiwan: Elections

Catherine West: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he had made of the potential impact of the election of Lai Ching-te on regional stability.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The elections that took place on 13 January are testament to Taiwan's vibrant democracy. The UK has a clear interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. We consider the Taiwan issue one to be settled peacefully by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait through constructive dialogue, without the threat or use of force or coercion. We have restated the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait alongside our G7 partners.

China: Taiwan

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he has taken to help prevent risk of conflict in the Taiwan Strait.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK has a clear interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. We consider the Taiwan issue one to be settled peacefully by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait through constructive dialogue, without the threat or use of force or coercion. We have restated the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait alongside our G7 partners.

China: Taiwan

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the increase in Chinese aerial incursions and military activity in the Taiwan Strait.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK has a clear interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. We consider the Taiwan issue one to be settled peacefully by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait through constructive dialogue, without the threat or use of force or coercion. China's continued military flights near Taiwan are part of an ongoing pattern of escalatory activity and are not conducive to peace and stability. We do not support any unilateral attempts to change the status quo, including increased Chinese assertiveness towards Taiwan. We have restated the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait alongside our G7 partners.

Ukraine: International Assistance

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the adequacy of aid to Ukraine.

Leo Docherty: On his 12 January visit to Kyiv, the Prime Minister reiterated the UK's unwavering support for Ukraine as he announced increased UK military funding of £2.5 billion for next financial year and signed an historic UK-Ukraine Agreement on Security Cooperation. We are in constant contact with international partners ensuring Ukraine receives the diplomatic support it needs. The Foreign Secretary set out the high level of UK ambition with counterparts at several recent meetings, including during NATO and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe gatherings in November, as well as during December travel to Washington, Paris, Rome, Amman and Cairo. He did so again this week at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.

Ukraine: Development Aid

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much official development assistance his Department plans to provide to Ukraine in the (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25 financial years.

Leo Docherty: The total UK military, humanitarian and economic support committed to Ukraine since the invasion now amounts to almost £12 billion. In 2023/24 the FCDO plans to provide £223.3 million of Official Development Assistance for Ukraine, with a focus on providing support for life-saving humanitarian assistance, energy resilience and early recovery and reconstruction. This includes an uplift of £18m in aid announced by the Prime Minister when he was in Kyiv on the 12th January. For 2024/25 the FCDO currently has an indicative allocation of £155 million of Official Development Assistance, as set out in its 2022-23 Annual report and accounts. We will update the House once the Ukraine allocation has been finalised.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether recent progress has been made towards opening the Kerem Shalom border crossing into Gaza for humanitarian aid.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK Government welcomes Israel's opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing for humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza, including food, water, medicine and shelter. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary were among the first to call on Israel to do this, including with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Significantly more aid needs to reach Gaza to address the humanitarian crisis. As the Foreign Secretary has set out, Israel must take steps, working with other partners including the UN and Egypt, to significantly increase the flow of aid into Gaza, including extending the opening hours and capacity of the Kerem Shalom checkpoint so more trucks, aid and fuel can enter Gaza, and open the crossing seven days a week. The British Government continues to discuss and press for the action that needs to be taken to increase aid to Gaza in his regular calls with his Israeli, Egyptian, Jordanian, Lebanese, US and Palestinian Authority counterparts.

Israel: Gaza

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of supporting the case brought against Israel by South Africa at the International Court of Justice.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: This development is unhelpful and we do not support it. We recognise that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas, in accordance with International Humanitarian Law. We do not believe that calling this genocide is the right approach. It is wrong to say that Israeli leadership, and Israel as a country, have the intention to commit genocide. Ultimately, it is for courts to decide on matters of genocide, not for states. We of course respect the role and independence of the International Court of Justice.

Development Aid: Climate Change and Poverty

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to UK International Development's white paper entitled International development in a contested world: ending extreme poverty and tackling climate change, published in November 2023, if his Department will publish a plan to deliver the policy commitments in that white paper.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: International development in a contested world, the International Development White Paper, sets out our strategic goal, to end extreme poverty and tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, and how the UK can accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, through to 2030. The FCDO will set out how it is delivering the White Paper through existing departmental planning processes, including the Outcome Delivery Plan and the Annual Report and Accounts.

Department for Transport

Members: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he pans to reply to the letters of 1 November and 6 December 2023 from the hon. member for Weston-super-Mare on behalf of a constituent about the Coastguard and Border Force.

Guy Opperman: A response to your letters was sent on 16 January 2024. I apologise for the delay in responding.

Old Oak Common Station

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of levels of (a) public and (b) stakeholder support for the construction of a new mainline station at Old Oak Common.

Huw Merriman: Various national public consultation exercises have been undertaken throughout the development of the HS2 Phase One scheme. More recently, Network Rail have engaged with regional stakeholders whilst planning for Great Western Main Line possessions resulting from Old Oak Common construction and are planning to increase engagement in the coming year as the HS2 project enters peak construction. Stakeholder consultation has also been undertaken on an ongoing basis and continues during construction via a variety of rail industry, local Government and HS2-specific forums, including with passenger groups representing all passengers travelling through the area.

Old Oak Common Station

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the creation of a mainline station at Old Oak Common on journey times on the Great Western Mainline.

Huw Merriman: The current assumption is that all passenger trains on the Great Western Mainline will stop at the new Old Oak Common station. Current estimates indicate stopping trains at this station is likely to add approximately 3 minutes onto the journey time to London Paddington, though this would be dependent on further timetable analysis. Old Oak Common will provide onward connectivity to Birmingham via HS2 and Central London via the Elizabeth Line so we anticipate many customers from the West of England will choose to disembark at Old Oak Common.

North Wales Coast Line: Electrification

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the total cost of the electrification of the North Wales mainline.

Huw Merriman: As part of the Prime Minister’s Network North announcement, the Government committed an unprecedented £1 billion investment to fund the electrification of the North Wales Main Line. We continue to work through the next steps for developing and delivering the scheme.

Fujitsu: Contracts

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the (a) number and (b) individual value of contracts with Fujitsu entered into by (i) executive agencies of the Department for Transport, (ii) the Northern Lighthouse Board, (iii) Trinity House, (iv) the Civil Aviation Authority and (v) the British Transport Police Authority since 2012.

Anthony Browne: I can confirm that currently there are no live contracts between Fujitsu and the entities you have listed.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the impact on the cost of ownership of an electronic vehicle of only using public charging points.

Anthony Browne: Whilst the price of public charging is generally higher than domestic charging, all but the fastest chargers are still cheaper per mile than petrol. However, most EV drivers charge at home overnight where they can access cheaper, more flexible tariffs – a trend the Government expects will continue.  The Plan for Drivers announced several measures to help those without off-street parking to access cheaper domestic charging rates, including a trial grant for safe cross-pavement charging solutions.

Driving Licences: USA

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 12 September 2023 to Question 198296 on Driving Licences: USA, whether his Department has written to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators since December 2020.

Guy Opperman: The Minister for Roads and Local Transport wrote to the Chairman of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators on 2 October 2023. This letter invited the organisation to facilitate discussions relating to the potential for reciprocal arrangements for driving licence exchange. No reply has yet been received.

Buses: Driving

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 26 October 2023 to Question 203762 on Buses: Driving, what (a) actions are required by his Department and (b) the planned timeline is for the delivery of those actions.

Guy Opperman: The Department for Transport received requests from industry to remove the regulatory 50 km restriction on regular services for 18 – 20-year old bus and coach drivers and explore whether a person is able to undertake the theory and off-road manoeuvre elements of the Driver Certificate of Professional Competency test prior to being granted a provisional licence. The Department has been considering these requests and we are actively working on next steps. The Department will continue to work closely with the Department for Work and Pensions and industry to identify job centre customers who would like to become bus and coach drivers and support them to achieve that aim. Part of our work on this has involved setting up a pilot scheme with an operator that is designed to recruit and train job centre customers into coach driving roles. This pilot has been successful and we are looking at rolling out a similar pilot to areas of the country that have the greatest bus and coach driver shortage.

Northern Ireland Office

Curlews: Northern Ireland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure the survival of curlews in Northern Ireland.

Mr Steve Baker: Biodiversity, conservation and protection is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland. In the absence of a Northern Ireland Executive and Ministers, it is for the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to advise on this topic.

Medical Records: Northern Ireland

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will ask the Permanent Secretary of the Northern Ireland Department of Health to publish an update on the Report of the Expert Review of Records of Deceased Patients (Neurology).

Chris Heaton-Harris: This is a devolved matter for the Northern Ireland Department of Health. The UK Government has no powers to intervene in this process. It remains the Government’s top priority to restore the Executive so that locally accountable political leaders can take action on Northern Ireland's public services, including health, in order to deliver better outcomes for the people of Northern Ireland.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Tree Planting: Finance

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees have been planted in England in (a) 2020, (b) 2021,(c) 2022 and (d) 2023 using tax payer money.

Rebecca Pow: The Forestry Commission produces statistics on all new planting of woodland in England. These can be found in Forestry Commission Key Performance Indicators (opens in a new tab). These statistics are reported for each financial year in thousands of hectares. The latest available figures are for 2022-23.

Beavers: Conservation

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many CL50 licenses were issued by Natural England in 2023.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many CL51 licenses were issued by Natural England in 2023.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many CL52 licenses were issued by Natural England in 2023.

Rebecca Pow: Here are the number of class licence registrations issued during 2023: CL50: 34 licences issuedCL51: 52 licences issuedCL52: 30 licences issued Total: 116 class licence registrations issued in 2023

Wetlands

Siobhan Baillie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will support wetlands-focused research on barriers relating to (a) private finance for, (b) land use change affecting and (c) long-term management of wetland sites.

Rebecca Pow: Government has a goal of stimulating at least £500m per year of private investment into nature recovery in England by 2027, rising to at least £1bn per year by 2030. Defra is putting in place interventions to set the conditions for this to happen, including publishing a nature markets framework, partnering with the British Standards Institute on nature investment standards, stimulating a pipeline of investable nature projects (including multiple projects in wetland areas), and enabling public funding for nature to crowd-in private investment. The Government is also supporting eight blue finance projects with around £750,000 of grants through the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund. This funding is being used to develop a pipeline of projects that can demonstrate viable private-sector investment models, ultimately working to restore important coastal and marine habitats such as saltmarsh. Four of the five Protected Site Strategy Research and Development Pilots involve pressures affecting wetlands, including long-term management and financing, while Natural England is additionally progressing two projects on peatland National Nature Reserves on selling carbon using the Peatland Code. Defra already supports a range of research projects relating to wetlands, including a recent collaboration with the British Trust for Ornithology modelling the impacts of different land use change scenarios on a range of wetland species. We also fund the Wetlands Bird Survey through grant in aid via JNCC. Through the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership, UK Administrations are working with DESNZ and Defra to address key research questions relating to blue carbon habitats. Internationally, we provide regular financial and in-kind support to the Ramsar Wetlands Convention to promote the protection and wise use of wetlands.

Wetlands

Siobhan Baillie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to celebrate World Wetlands Day.

Rebecca Pow: Yes, my Department will be marking World Wetlands Day, including through a variety of communications and engagement activities. Wetlands play a crucial role in sustaining life globally - they benefit water, food, livelihoods, climate, cultural pursuits, and biodiversity – and this day marks an opportunity to promote these benefits. This year’s World Wetlands Day theme is ‘Wetland and human wellbeing’, reflecting that Wetlands positively impact mental wellbeing by promoting mindfulness and emotional balance through the connection to nature they provide and offer recreational opportunities, contributing to stress management and relaxation.

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the business case considered by the trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew for moving the herbarium to the Thames Valley Science Park.

Rebecca Pow: No final funding decision has been made in relation to the new herbarium. Business cases are not routinely published.

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate (a) his Department has and (b) the Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew have made of the energy costs of moving the herbarium to the Thames Valley Science Park.

Rebecca Pow: No final funding decision has been made in relation to the new herbarium. The energy costs of the new herbarium building will continue to be considered with high environmental standards built into the project brief.

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the Equality Impact Assessment relating to the move of the herbarium at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to the Thames Valley Science Park.

Rebecca Pow: No final funding decision has been made in relation to the new herbarium. An equality impact assessment will be undertaken.

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the level of (a) damage and (b) loss posed to the contents of the herbarium at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew by a relocation.

Rebecca Pow: No final funding decision has been made in relation to the new herbarium. Kew have advised that they have an active programme of safely and professionally shipping specimens all over the world; moving the specimens will be in line with the established and ongoing practice.

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the likelihood of other countries asking for elements of the herbarium at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to be repatriated in the event of a move to the Thames Valley Science Park.

Rebecca Pow: No final funding decision has been made in relation to the new herbarium. Kew Trustees do not have the power to give away or otherwise dispose of any object vested in them and comprised in the collection except under very limited circumstances as prescribed in their governing instrument, the National Heritage Act 1983. Kew is working at pace to digitise the estimated 7 million herbarium specimens by 2026/7 in order that they will be immediately and freely available online to researchers worldwide. Physical specimens will remain accessible at the Kew Herbarium regardless of location.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Written Questions

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to Question (a) 5477 and (b) 5478 tabled by the Rt hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell on 6 December 2023.

Rebecca Pow: Responses were published on 19 December 2023.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Non-fungible Tokens: North Sea

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of using non-fungible tokens in the issuing of North Sea licences.

Graham Stuart: The North Sea Transition Authority, the regulator and licensing body for oil and gas, offshore hydrogen and carbon storage, has made no such assessment.

World War II: National Service

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many Bevin Boys were conscripted from Rother Valley constituency.

Graham Stuart: Unlike those conscripted into the Armed Forces during World War Two, those who were conscripted or volunteered as Bevin Boys to work in the UK’s coal mines, were employed and paid by individual mine owners and operators. No central records were kept, and the Government therefore cannot provide details of the numbers conscripted from the Rother Valley constituency.

World War II: National Service

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what information her Department holds on which collieries in (a) Rother Valley constituency and (b) the UK had Bevin Boys as part of their workforce.

Graham Stuart: No central records were kept on the deployment of those who were conscripted or volunteered as Bevin Boys, including the collieries to which they were deployed. However, the Government understands that the majority of Bevin Boys were trained at one of 13 pits, none of which were in the Rother Valley constituency: Askern main (Yorkshire)Birley East (Yorkshire)Chislet (Kent)Cramlington Lamb (Northumberland)Cresswell (Derbyshire)Haunchwood (Warwickshire)Horden (Durham)Kemball (Staffordshire)Muircockhall (Fife)Newton (Lancashire)Oakdale (Monmouthshire)Old Morrison (Durham)Prince of Wales (Yorkshire)

Energy: Disability

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to help ensure that disabled people with high energy usage do not fall into fuel poverty.

Amanda Solloway: Although energy prices have significantly decreased compared to last winter, the Government is continuing to support those most in need such as disabled individuals. Millions of vulnerable households are receiving up to £900 in further cost of living payments, with an extra £150 to those on eligible disability benefits. This is alongside established support that vulnerable households may be able to receive such as the Winter Fuel Payment, and the £150 Warm Homes Discount. I recommend that disabled individuals visit if the ‘Help for Households’ webpage on GOV.UK to view what support they may be able to access - https://helpforhouseholds.campaign.gov.uk/.

Energy: Social Tariffs

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will have discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential merits of introducing an energy social tariff to assist disabled people with energy costs.

Amanda Solloway: The Government is continuing to support those most in need with millions of vulnerable households receiving up to £900 in further cost of living payments, with an extra £150 to those on eligible disability payments. This is in addition to the established support of the Winter Fuel Payment worth between £250-£600 and the £150 off energy bills from the Warm Home Discount, which many disabled people will be eligible for The Government continues to monitor the situation and will keep options under review with respect to the most vulnerable households.

Energy Charter Treaty

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent progress her Department has made on reviewing the UK's membership of the Energy Charter Treaty.

Graham Stuart: On 1 September 2023, the UK announced it would review its membership of the Energy Charter Treaty if the modernised Treaty was not adopted by November 2023. The Government is considering the views of stakeholders in business, civil society, and Parliament as part of this review.

Air Pollution

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the report from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology entitled Indoor Air Quality, published on 26 September 2023.

Amanda Solloway: The Department takes note of the report. The Department is aware of the impacts of domestic cooking appliances on indoor air quality. In particular, we are currently considering the impacts of potential updates to Ecodesign and energy labelling requirements for domestic cooking appliances, including the societal benefits of reduced asthma rates caused by an increased use of electric cooking appliances reducing amounts of NOx and small particulates in the home. The published report reinforces the importance of retaining these benefits as a key consideration in ongoing policy development in this area. The Department is also a member of the cross-Government Working Group on indoor air quality which is led by Defra. We will continue to ensure that the Department is represented in that group.

Fuel Poverty

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what her planned timeline is for the publication of her Department's fuel poverty strategy; and if she will take steps to ensure the strategy tackles fuel poverty for disabled people.

Amanda Solloway: The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is currently reviewing the fuel poverty strategy for England and will publish the review in due course. Vulnerability is one of the current fuel poverty strategy’s guiding principles. This ensures that the Government specifically consider the needs of low-income households who are most at risk of the impacts of living in a cold home, such as households with an occupant who has a disability. The Department’s review of the fuel poverty strategy will seek views on how Government could further support vulnerable people in fuel poverty.

Warm Home Discount Scheme: Disability

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will take steps to extend the warm home discount for disabled households.

Amanda Solloway: The Government expanded and reformed the scheme in England and Wales from winter 2022/23 to better target households at risk of fuel poverty. The Government estimated in the final impact assessment that 160,000 more households, where a person has a disability or long-term illness, would receive a rebate as a result. These changes have not applied in Scotland, where customers apply for a Broader Group rebate through their energy suppliers, who can set their own eligibility criteria.

District Heating: Training

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many people have started on the (a) low carbon heating technician apprenticeship scheme, (b) Home Decarbonisation Skills Training Scheme and (c) training funded by the Heat Training Grant since September 2023.

Amanda Solloway: (a) The low carbon heating technician apprenticeship standard is newly approved as of August 2023, and so published data is not yet available; (b) Since September 2023, 1,796 accredited courses have been started under Phase 2 of the Home Decarbonisation Skills Training Competition, upskilling insulation installers and retrofit coordinators and assessors. The funding is expected to result in around 8,000 training opportunities; and, (c) Since July 2023, the Heat Training Grant has funded 1,443 courses relevant to heat pumps and heat networks. The grant is expected to support 10,000 training opportunities by April 2025.

District Heating: Training

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many people have started on the (a) low carbon heating technician apprenticeship scheme, (b) Home Decarbonisation Skills Training Scheme and (c) training funded by the Heat Training Grant since September 2023, broken down by region.

Amanda Solloway: The table below outlines the training started under the above-mentioned schemes, broken down by region: SchemeLocal Net Zero HubNorth East & YorkshireNorth WestMidlandsGreater South EastSouth WestLow carbon heating technician apprenticeshipThis is a new apprenticeship, so data is not yet availableHome Decarbonisation Skills Training Competition (since September 2023)16638264353273Heat Training Grant (since July 2023)214110345657117 These schemes are part way through delivery. The figures for training started will continue to increase across all regions.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Feltham and Heston

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what (a) schemes and (b) grants their Department administers that are open for (i) individuals, (ii) organisations and (iii) other groups in Feltham and Heston constituency to apply for as of 10 January 2024.

Graham Stuart: The Department has two grant schemes open for applications from relevant individuals and groups: the Green Heat Network Fund and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. Government grant schemes are registered on the dedicated ‘Find a Grant’ service, accessible at www.find-government-grants.service.gov.uk. This free service allows users to search for grants, check eligibility and understand how to apply.

Wales Office

North Wales Coast Line: Electrification

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) the Secretary of State for Transport, (b) Network Rail and (c) the Welsh government on the electrification of the North Wales Main Line.

David T C Davies: My officials and I have regular discussions with counterparts in the Department for Transport, Network Rail and the Welsh Government on a wide range of transport matters across Wales.The UK Government is committed to providing £1 billion to fund the electrification of the North Wales Main Line. This investment will have a transformative impact for the many residents, commuters and tourists who use the North Wales Main Line, driving economic growth across the region.The Department for Transport is working closely with Network Rail and industry partners to develop and deliver on the Government priorities outlined in the Prime Minister’s Network North announcement, including electrification of the North Wales Main Line. The Government is currently considering next steps, including delivery timelines, and will share further information when this work is complete. All schemes will be subject to the development and approval of business cases and will undergo all formal governance, in line with relevant fiscal and legal duties.The UK Government is already providing significant investment to improve rail infrastructure and travel in Wales, including £144 million for the Core Valley Lines, delivering the £76 million electrification of the Severn Tunnel and £77.7 million for improvements to Cardiff Central Station.

Railways: Wales

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) the Secretary of State for Transport and (b) Network Rail on the potential impact of Control Period 7 funding on (i) rail services and (ii) the condition of rail infrastructure in Wales.

David T C Davies: My officials and I have regular discussions with counterparts in the Department for Transport and Network Rail on a wide range of transport matters in Wales.Between 2024 and 2029, the UK Government will be providing a record £44.1 billion settlement for Network Rail in Control Period 7 across England and Wales. This £44.1 billion settlement is roughly a 4% increase in real terms when compared to the previous control period.The UK Government is committed to improving rail infrastructure in Wales and has allocated £1 billion to electrify the North Wales Mainline, delivered the £76 million electrification of the Severn Tunnel, contributed £144 million to the upgrade of the Core Valley Lines and provided £77.7 million for improvements to Cardiff Central Station.

Tata Steel: Port Talbot

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when the Tata Steel/ Port Talbot Transition Board will next meet.

David T C Davies: The Tata Steel/Port Talbot Transition Board plan to next meet on 1 February 2024.I chair the Transition Board which was set up to support people, businesses and communities affected by Tata Steel’s decarbonisation transition. The Transition Board will have access to up to £100 million to invest in skills and regeneration programmes for the local area.